On the Way to You
by joliegirl01
Summary: A girl starts a journey to find her lost sister but is accompanied by a guy with red hair. The choices and decisions she makes will make an impact on the future existing worlds. On this journey she will discover her true purpose. AxelXOC
1. A sunny filled stalker

**A Sunny Filled Stalker**

**~This is my first story that I've written on here so I hope you like it ^^ and please review it so I'll know what I have to work on or how it is going. I will really appreciate it~ Please Bear with me. It's my first story**

**(In my stories, I tend to put a lot of imagery in them. Just thought I'll bring that out)**

**_This story takes place after Kingdom hearts 2_  
**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts except for this story and my characters**_

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_It's been almost a year now since I haven't seen my sister…but I don't want to get used to it either..._ I moan to myself in thought. _Nine months, it's been that long?_

My eyes shut close, liking the ease of the wind caress my face that had inevitably brought a scent of lilies and warmth. I look forward at the grass and lilies ahead and all around me, which seemed to stretch as far as the 'eye' can see.

_The sun… it feel so good, I know sis would like this…_ My eyes gawk up at the sun for a brief moment thinking about that thought but look away, feeling my eyes water from the sun. _Kris…_

My frame of mind changes to sadness of thinking of her, let alone my mother and father. And the truth is I don't even know where to start looking for my her. What a bump in the road that is. I only decided to look one month ago, and how much have I succeeded; zero percent. My head lowers down and a bright red ladybug catches my eye on a Lilly petal. It had a spotless body, which probably meant that it was still so young. Seeing the little red dot takes away some of the distress I was feeling just now. With its little legs it crawled slowly down the orange white flower, probably feeling like it had all the time in the world to do whatever it needs to do, almost like a butterfly. A soft smile turned upon my face. I moved my head forward to look closely at the insect, and as usual started to see the beauty of it, like I do with everything else that deals with nature. The green trees that seemed connected with each other. The lovely flowers that sprout from the ground that starts with a new beginning. Everything all around me is all connected, including me in some way. Getting off the ground from my legs being stretched out, I elongate my body that produces the sound of cracks in my back that gives me a feeling of ease then.

"Have you ever seen the sky so blue…of course", I said to myself. _So much for trying to be a optimistic person, though I try, it's not all that easy..._

The sound of little laughter escapes my lips. Suddenly starting to feel bliss- my feet gave way to running. Having the feeling of freedom makes you want to jump for joy and do crazy things doesn't it? Well maybe not that crazy. But just fun and crazy enough, which is what I feel like doing right now.

Standing at the edge of a cliff seems pretty extreme, but not unless you know what your doing. The water at the bottom shimmers little effect from the sun's light, giving it a theme of tranquility. The forest that surrounds the big river reminds me of the story of Pocahontas my mother used to tell me. She jumped off the cliff making a graceful dive; it seemed amazing to me that a girl would do something so crazy just for the fun of it. I was only ten then I tried to do it with some friends. It was frightening at how high up I was from the water below, but then one of my buddies pushed me, making a vast splash at the bottom. It was soo scary…but also so invigorating, which seemed to boost up my risky nature. And now here I am about to jump for the millionth time at my favorite diving spot, which was my first. Feeling for the nun-chunks on the side of my bikini bottom strap that held it firmly in place, I began to brace myself for the upcoming splash that was inevitably going to consume my body. As I stretched out my arms on my sides, I took in a deep breath and began to fall forward.

"Hey! What you about to do, kill yourself?"

The distraction of a voice makes me lose my focus and makes me become unbalanced and tipsy. My arms flailing in the air, I catch myself by a split second by leaning back and I turn around frantically, trying to get my sense of balance once more. Surprised and upset, my eyes landed upon a tall black-cloaked man a few feet away from me. He had green-emerald eyes with long red spiky hair that went downward with one purple tear-dropped tattoo on both cheeks. He had a smirk on his face, discovering a shiny coin in the sun. My expression didn't change and I didn't say anything.

_Is he a perverted stalker or something, who is this guy?_

My body stiffened as I reached for my nun-chunks and held them in front of me ready to swing an attack. He began to speak.

"Now, now, there's no need for that…" he said in a calm voice, waving his hands in the air in an assertive motion. A smirk formed on my face. I wasn't really buying what he was trying to say, I mean, does he really think I'm that naïve?

"Tch, who are you, some sorta' perverted stalker?" My fighting instincts started to kick in as I started to circle him. He mocked my motion with smooth steps. His gaze was that of mischievous eyes as he starred at me, probably feeling amused of my reaction. After a few seconds his stalking motion stopped, but I continued. His eyebrows curved up like a pleading expression and shrugged with a grin.

"Like an old friend of mine had the audacity to say to a bud of mine…" He raised his forefinger and pointed it in the air like he was acting something out. "You shouldn't judge people by appearances". Still grinning, he stopped and straightened his posture.

My expression changed to bewilderment as I stopped circling him. I just stared at him like he was crazy. 'What does this guy want?' Feeling the nerve to chuckle I reluctantly spoke. "What is it with you, what do you want?" A nerve ticked in my head as I put my hand that was holding my nun-chunk on my hip waiting for an explanation. _Stalker-boy…_

He put both hands on his hips and lowered his head down sighing, and lifted his head up with a grin. "Well first of all, I am not a pervert stalker", he said pointing to himself, "and I don't even-".

"That's what they all say." I interrupted with a mild chuckle.

He gave me an 'I'm-serious' look but ignored my comment and kept speaking while making hand gestures. "And I just found interest in a person who was about to jump into a river that might have rocks at the bottom-is all…" he said in a smooth monotone voice. "Got it memorized?" He beamed me a smirk once more; I smirked back. I folded my arms trying to think of a verdict of this guy.

"Hmm…" I moaned aloud, touching my chin. _He doesn't seem all that threatening; otherwise, he would have done something to me by now instead of doing and saying ridiculous stuf_f. My eyes directed me towards the carroty sky where clouds were in view.

T_hough-it is hard to trust a stranger who seams to wear a hooded black cloak all the time who has been following you around like a STALKER_. I snapped myself out of my thoughts and came back to reality, back to when I was listening to an oddball with red hair. _But_, I thought. _Did he just find me now or has he been really following me around all this time...?_ I didn't really know what to think of him, but I just decided to see what he would do. If he did do something, I would just hit him where it hurts. _I'll just act neutral right now._

"Hmm…fine… whatever," I said as I turned around, looking at the orange sun that seemed to be on the other side of the world.

The sound of shoes smashing dry dirt saunters up behind me. I sensed him coming forward. This frail feeling made me feel as if I was a rabbit and he was a wolf, but a weird one. I noticed him come to the left side of me. Though I didn't look at him, it seemed like he was looking at the polished orange sun as well.

"Sure is a pretty view from here huh?" the redhead said.

"Yeah, I-I guess…"

I didn't feel very comfortable. _Why is he up to the side of me like that anyway?_ I thought. He wasn't that close to me but I would still like some space from a stalker-boy. I took a step to the right, hoping he didn't notice. What I did fine at ease with him was that it seemed that he took a pleasant interest in the sun's view. It was really gorgeous; the sun having a hue of orange and red makes the clouds appear like giant, red-orange candies of color floating in the sky. It even gave that same color to the sky. I turned my head slightly to look at him finally with a small grin, and saw the light from the sun reflecting off his face and black cloak. It made him appear blameless of anything he might have ever done wrong. I wondered did I look like that at this moment as well. He crossed his arms and turned his head to look at me with the same expression that was on my face, a grin.

"So, do you come here often?" he said shifting his body to face me with a smirk that never seemed to go away. _That's actually none of your business_, I thought of telling him, but I didn't. _Maybe this stalker is in need of a friend?_ _Wow, I'm so lame_...

I mocked his position. "Sometimes I do", I said in a casual tone. "But this isn't the only place." I turned away to look at the sun, enjoying the feeling of the sun's beams on my skin.

"Huh…well that figures", he turned to look at the sun to give out a relaxed, contended moan. My eyes turned to stare at him through the corner of my left eye. 'I guess he isn't such a bad guy after all; I just wonder what his focus is.' I then started to recall the reason why I was on that cliff in the first place, 'to jump in the river'. _Hmm…yeah_.

My arms and legs started to feel loose and relaxed while my mood changed that made me become eager to do something crazy again, but now with an audience to watch. I walked up to the edge of the cliff leaving the redhead a few feet behind me, probably wondering what I'm thinking about doing. A big mischievous smirk formed on my face. I twisted my body to face him, who looked like he knew what I was about to do at that moment. He looked rather amused then concerned and finally put both of his arms down on his sides.

He stood in his place saying, "You finally about to jump huh?"

I chuckled a little. "Yeah-well its' been fun", my hand wave's once. I kept my nun-chunk in my hand instead of putting it back in-between me and my strap. I closed my eyes, stretched out my arms and stood on the sole of my foot. I leaned back; finally ready to feel the wind rush pass me as I plummet down to the river's water. I at last fell backwards, feeling the law of gravity having a hold on me.

I spun my body to get in the divers position and awaited the hard splash below, which inevitably caught me like a hand. Holding my breath, I swam to the middle of the river. With my eyes opened, I could see a school of little fish rush ahead of me from my presence. The colors of the river were dark and blue, but I could still only see minor things. My eyes drifted upon little black, blue rocks and small water plants swishing and swaying gradually, going by the rivers pace of flow. I bathed up to the waters surface to exhale amounts of air to fill my lungs. Water escaped my hair as I shook it and rubbed my eyes to avoid stinging from the water's effect in my eyes. My head drifted up toward the place where I fell from, hoping the redhead saw my awesome performance. From what I could gawk at, I didn't see the guy looking down at me, but only an open space with trees circling it-he was gone.


	2. Time in Another Universe

**Hope you like this chapter. There are a lot of thinking going on in here**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts except for this story and my characters.**

**Time in Another Universe  
**

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The way I was feeling just now sort of turned to a feeling of disappointment but also satisfaction.

Well, I was sorta hoping he would leave anyway.' Though I thought that, I really wanted at least a little company-even from that of a stranger. Am I really that desperate?

As I thought about him, I recollected the thoughts to where my materials were. Hoping nothing happened to them, I started to swim to my left where land stretched down the river. I could feel my feet switch from the feeling of pressing against hard-wet rocks to dry-dirty pebbles on the now hard sand. I ran my hands through my now curly-wholly damp hair, which got stuck a little trying to undo a little hair knots from the effect of the water. In front of me were yellow and pink flowers lining the ground that mixed with the stiff grass and shrubs with hard-barked trees towering above them. To my right was a shabby-black backpack; it sat lump-sided against a lofty brown tree where I left it.

My nun-chunks dropped to the ground as I hurriedly rushed towards my bag, not caring if I stepped on dirty twigs or maybe even dead bugs, that bag was my prized possession for it had all the important items that I needed, or might need when I went out of my home. I knelt down to untie the black-laced strap. Once opened, my eyes scanned the interior to find a black top and black pants bundled together; a little glimpse of a turquoise-blue towel and a small polka dotted chain purse. Well, perhaps not that important to some peoples' tastes to steal from, but still, they were important to me.

My hand scurried in the bag until it felt the feeling of a towel. I wrenched it out while my clothes came out with it in the process. They fell to the sandy grimy ground, which I hoped would not happen, though I ignored it to wipe my clammy face. When finished, I put the towel back in the bag that happened to dangle out a bit and grabbed my now dirty clothes to shake them clean. I lose concentration when my ears perk up due to a scampering sound to my right.

My eyes dart in the direction of some green shrubs and pink flowers, but nothing what you'd expect to be threatening. I shrug it off.

_Probably just a chipmunk or something…_

Having the feeling that my clothes have just died from the crucial constant shaking, I place them back in my bag and put my towel further in it as well. I twiddle my fingers together to tie and close my bag all together. I heave a sigh of composure due to what I've just done and stand up.

My head turns towards the sluggish paced river on my right and I consciously stroll forward. My feet stopped just where the water compensated the land; I put my arms behind my back to look down and dip my toe in the water's coldness as I started to get the feeling of taking another swim. I look back up to see if anything seemed out-of-nature in the bushes and trees on the other side of the river and on my side; just more trees and shrubberies on the left and right. A huff of air blows out my mouth as my right hand reaches my forehead and my left hand places its self on my hip. My mind wanders in the confrontation of that stranger; that stalker-guy.

_He's probably watching me right now._

I place a finger on my chin out of speculation to glance at the cliff I fell from. Nothing showed but green bushy trees and vines lining the cliffs rocky façade. My eyes gazes beyond the cliff to see a still tangerine sky hardly embedded with transparent clouds.

_Hmm…he'll probably show up again…especially if he lives up to his name._

My lips uncovered a small smile of teeth at the thought of the name; it was a funny title. The more I thought about him, the more he caught my interest of curiosity.

Who was he and what did he want? Did he just want to start a friendly conversation with someone he didn't know? I wonder how long he's been following me around, or did he just find me at that particular time?

Questions filled my head like water being poured into a bucket, questions that might have to be answered at a later time.

_But, I really don't want to think about that guy, especially since I have other important things to think about; though, at the same time, I just can't ignore someone who might be looking at me from behind the trees._

_Just to be sure…_

I swiftly spun around in coherent with that thought. Once again it was nothing that I would stand in shock of but the flowers and trees standing above them. I turned back around in approval, but with no smile. There was that feeling again, the feeling of paranoia. The sensation prompts me to kick the sand with my foot in anger; I watched a mass of forced sand fly into the water ahead of me. My eyebrows furrowed. I hated this feeling with my guts, this stupid anxious feeling, and wished whenever I had this feeling that it would just go away. I'm not used to this sensation, though whenever the nagging and anxious feeling comes up in my chest I just want to be with someone all the time like I'm a big baby. I turn around once more to look towards a light beaming down on the tree leaves giving them a majestic atmosphere. I heave a sigh.

_I guess I just have to suck it up and be strong- be strong Deonna…_ I said to myself.

I turn my head back around towards the slow-moving river; my foot stepped into the moving liquid and started to have a feeling of edginess of trying to overpower the emotion.

_Besides me feeling this way, I should try to shake it off and just take a nice swim like I'm supposed to anyway. That's why I came here in the first place right? I don't want to absorb more stress as it is anyway._

A smile finally crossed my lips as I stretched my arms to undergo another sentiment of ease. _Stretching feels so good._

Just then I realized I've been standing around in the same spot all this time wondering about some stranger. _What a wonder what a stranger with red hair can do to you in just a five-minute encounter._

Chuckling escapes my lips. _Well, maybe whenever he wants to jump out of the bushes and scare the heck out of me, maybe next time I can try to befriend him…maybe_.

I waded my feet into the water, the chilly cold water and sat my butt on the rocky-sandy ground. Thinking about befriending that guy pours memories of my lost friends into my mind; the last time I've seen them was when darkness consumed this island. After I went blank, I appeared in this other world called Traverse Town. This was when I still had my family, but I only saw two of my friends there, which made me really happy but also sad that my other friend wasn't there. I met a lot of people there, but I can't really remember their names, for it's been two years. A brushing sound interrupts my thoughts behind me in the bushes. I stir my head around to see that guy, that stalker-boy once again. His presence gave me those dubious feelings I felt for him.

_Is he really a perverted stalker_?

He had a rather dull look about him, even though a small smirk was present upon his lips. "I knew you would show up eventually," I said with an uncomfortable smile, trying not to sound edgy. His facial features turned into a more composed and easy going one.

He began to speak. "Yeah well…" he rubbed the back of his neck as if he was at a lost of words. He didn't finish the sentence and said, "That sure was some dive you did," he whipped his nose with his thumb and put his hand on his hip. "It was pretty impressive," he then folded his arms with a content smile.

A pleasurable grin curled my lips as I twisted my upper body in his direction while my arm supported my weight. "So you did watch me jump!" I ecstatically said; a little bit too ecstatically for my taste. "I thought you left since I didn't see you when I was in the water."

He then answered back at my curious statement. "I did watch you plunge down to the earth getting consumed in some fish water. After that, I figured I would go down to your level to greet you again."

I tittered; he really does live up to his name.

I gestured my hand, questioning his loath. "What? You don't like the water or something, or the fishy smell?" I said with a smirk. But of course, who would like the smell of fish anyway. He shrugged.

"I'm not much of the swimming kind of guy", he shrugged again with his hands. "And I wouldn't exactly want to bathe in fish water anyway."

_Hmm…I can very much understand that, but I wasn't bathing._

I spoke my thought. "I can very much understand that…" I said as I looked down. When I looked down, two pointed dark dots appeared faintly through my shirt on my chest. They were my… you know. My face flushed with minor heat as I looked back up at him but he was staring somewhere else. I swiftly turned back toward the river. I then remembered I was wearing a white T-shirt that you could almost see through when wet. 'I hope he didn't notice, but if he did see them he should have said something.

But that would be so weird if he said that he could see my chest through my shirt, I murmured to myself.

I felt really embarrassed and pretty shocked. I stood up on my feet and waded forward into the deeper part of the river, where I was soon almost engulfed with water up to my neck. This way, he wouldn't have to see me body. My head turned towards his direction, where I saw him chuckling and walking up towards the river, almost where I was sitting.

_What is he laughing about?_ I decided to ask him rather in a clueless way.

"What's so funny?"

He put his arms to his sides and said, "When you got up, some sand was stuck on you legs and butt, I just thought that to be funny is all."

I could feel an irritated expression on my face. That is embarrassing to. I shook my head and smirked, falling back into the water and started to float with my arms splayed out. Above me was the mood of the sky that seemed dim and dry. A few clouds lined the sky like gray streaks and only a few stars could be seen, weakly though. I guess the sun is about to leave the island for another day; I didn't realize it was getting this dark.

_Time flies when your mind is in a different universe._


	3. Let Him In?

**I hope you like this next chapter. I wanted to put this up before I go out of town**

_**Disclaimer is in the first chapter**_

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**Let Him In?**

The sip of raspberry tea tingled my taste buds as it slid smoothly down my throat. I placed my white coffee mug on the wooden table in front of me as I rested my head in the palm of my hand. I subconsciously thought about what been appearing to me every few days as I fell asleep. The feeling of darkness is something to be feared, but doesn't happen as often as it should.

_Darkness was all that my eyes could see as I floated like a feather down a breathable ocean. Landing on a solid platform, the touch of bullets hitting my body makes my arms land over my face as doves burst from under me. I unsteadily look up to see them flying in mid-darkness away from my shaky stance. The elimination of light directs me to see the portrait of a woman, a beautiful fair-skinned woman who appears to be asleep elongated on the ground before me. Tension stirred in my frightened heart as to what to do next, though, I willing but curiously stepped into a walk on the platform to see little men and animals with their eyes opened_. Every time I dreamt this scene, I already knew what would happen next. I open my eyes to see the evaporation of heated tea disappear before my downcast eyes.

" Dreams…can be quite an enigma." I huffed a chuckle as I sipped and sniffed my mouth-watering tea.

* * *

Morning passed by so fast. Being the lazy person I know I can be, I've been doing nothing but acting like a couch potato all morning, even adding a little nap in. My head rolls to the side where it rested on the shoulder of the sofa to see the kitchen come into view, a brown table and white fridge in its rightful place, giving it the touch of old cabinets under the counter and on the walls. My eyes wander up toward the ceiling to see a peach atmosphere above that I've seen all my life. My mind spoke negatively.

"Some plan I have, just that it's not much of one…" I rub my eyes to find crust in its corners as I sat up to lean back on my soft couch. "Mmmmm…stupid plan, I don't know how's this gonna work," I said with a huff. "I got no one to help me, it's just me, alone…how can a seventeen year old pull this off." I chucked as I rubbed my temples.

A growling sound ruptured from inside of me, making me wake up from my frustration. "What?" I unsurprisingly looked down at my stomach. "Hmph, it looks like I forgot to eat breakfast, great."A sigh came forth as I used the side of the couch for support to get up.

I strode lazily towards the kitchen, which was across from the living room that held no barrier from the others' presence. Passing by an unclosed white curtain near the entrance of the house door, a brown speck caught the corner of my eye from outside. I stopped in my tracks and went back to what could have caught my attention. My eyes widened at the presence of a creature that it dared me not to make a flinch. The chestnut colored deer hungrily nipped the grass away as I watched in awe, watching its full grown body go from one area to another. My fingers longed for the soft touch of such an animal that my fingers touched the glassy window, imagining me out there with it. The grazing deer brought its head up in mid-air as if to notice something. Turning its head in my direction, it sprung back into the forest where trees and bushes consumed. 'Shoot! It probably saw my face like I was about to pounce on him or something or am I that ugly?' I brushed that silly thought out of my when mind. When I catch a deer grazing in front of my house I wouldn't want to go outside in case it decided to come back, which never happens. So, why wait for it now when it won't be coming back any time soon. I made my decision clear as I opened the front door.

My bare foot stepped on the hard feeling 'Welcome Home' mat on the doorstep. My eyes focused on the brown trees and bushes where the deer escaped to, but decided to ignore it and focus on what ever else caught my attention. I held my arms behind my back and breathed in the air of the environment. The butt in of a startling itch crept up in my nose, as I knew what that meant. I closed my eyes and roughly rubbed my nose to get rid of the sneezing itch. I failed as I breathed in to make a horrid sneeze. Sniffling continued as I rubbed my irritated nose again to say, "Excuse me." I bowed my head forward to rub my face when an unexpected voice perked my ears from behind.

"You're excused." The hearing of a human voice had my heart rate sped up as I unconsciously turned to see a face."Boo!" A face spoke.

"Ahh!" I yelped as I tumbled backwards into the dry grass behind me, making me anchor land on my butt.

Ignoring the pain that shocked my pelvis, I looked up to find an entertained face looking down on me. "Oops-uh-sorry?" said the red head. I couldn't hardly swallow as my mind stirred to the realization of who this person was. It was the guy from the other day. 'Great, it's that red-headed guy again…'

I took notice that he was wearing the same black cloak from before and almost cringed. 'I had a feeling he wore that cloak all the time, does he ever take it off to clean?' The pain came back to my senses as I clenched my teeth that he should have taken the audacity to notice. "Wow, you really had a hard fall there huh?" the redhead, or should I say, stalker-boy said as he came forward. Using my hand to support my back, I rose up and looked down at my pj's to dust them off. My eyes looked up to see the tall redhead with a, rather worried expression on his tattooed face. Not very surprised about that, he should be sad about what he did.

I summoned a groan. "You could have at least helped me up!" I folded my hands swaying my hip to the side. His eyes went big and a mild grin came up. "Oh, well I did try to help you up by putting my hand out, but you didn't see it when you got up on your own." His arms folded and cocked an eyebrow at me. "Oh and by the way nice pajamas." 'Oh shoot,' I thought. I tried not to look down at my blue paw-printed pj's as little titters came out of his mouth. "So I guess you're a dog lover? I don't really mind them much," he said as he placed his hands on his hips. "They look nice on you." I gave rise to a sigh and raised my hand to my forehead in perplexity.

"Okay, you know what whatever." I looked up at him and my eyes looked passed his soul. " The main thing that I've been wondering is how did you know I lived here?" My arms crossed waiting for an explanation to ease my nerves, which probably won't happen either way because there's a crazy guy following me around. A sly smirk crept onto his lips that I swore I could have ripped off.

"How do you think? I followed you home the other day. Got a clue?" he said still simpering, but soon faded as my body turned hot with anger. I waved my hand in the air assertively and gave out to a roar. "Okay cut the sarcasm what do you want from me!" I leaned forward and he backed away, putting his hands in front of him in shock. He must have no idea what females are capable of when angry.

"Whoa-whoa now I'm sorry-sorry," he said waving his hands in front of himself trying to distance away from me. "Uh-It's nothing!" "Uh-what's nothing?" "It's nothing, I don't want nothing from you at all, just your-uh-uhm I don't know!" He waved his hands in front of him. Air came up in chuckles as I lowered my head to give them out. Placing my hand on my hips, I looked at him, this time grinning. He looked unsure of himself. I pointed my finger in his face. "You're a confused man."

He gave into laughter. " You wish!" I grunted and steamed past him to enter my house. "Wai-!" I slammed the door in his face. I went toward the table and sat down in a seat. My hands held my head in support as I thought about this bizarre situation. 'This guy just can't get off my back!' I looked up, though, rather surprised that I don't hear him making any noise from the outside trying to get my attention. 'Maybe he left? Not a chance,' I thought. My body twisted around to see what's up, but found the redhead by the door, in my house. He looked at me uncertainly as I glared at him.

"Hey…" he said, rather smoothly waving his hand, as if he's really trying to cover something up. Why me? Why now? Seeing him now, I would have gone ballistic on him about being in my precious home, but I didn't. The wooden chair skidded on the floor by my weight as I got up with a grunt and walked towards his stance by the door. He looked at me with his emerald green eyes, still with uncertainty in his tattooed facial features which I took notice of. Trying to hold myself together, I continued with my slow approach and asked the question that I wish I knew the answer to.

"What do you want really?" My arms crossed waiting for his answer as I gazed up at him with the patience that I could only bear for a crazy stranger. His eyes closed and sighed as he cocked his head to the side. "I-I guess I just want someone to talk to…" he rubbed his chin with his finger, well knowing that I would not take an answer that did not make sense. I never did avert from looking into his eyes, really wondering what should I do now.

'Is that really the truth?' Giving him the edginess of my thoughts, I walked back to the table with seldom steps and sat in the chair facing the opposite wall. My head turned right. The cool actions I displayed must have sprouted a question mark on his fiery red head; just if it would really catch on fire I would like to see him laugh at that. 'Does he have any friends? Is he bothering me because of that? Just nagging strangers because he's lonely? Or maybe he is a perv or something else…. If that really is the case, maybe there is something I can do to lift this tight chain.

* * *

Minutes passed as I just starred at the opposite wall while looking back at him standing at the door. Practically wondering what I should do. He had his arms folded just standing there, looking down at the floor. I was surprised; thought that he would be walking around my home just to do it. A few more minutes passed by and I finally decided what to do. 'I can't believe this…but…I'll take my chances with him' ' I'd rather not think negatively about a person anyway.' I'll just talk to him and see what happens. From that thought, I turned to look at him.

"Okay then," I began. He looked up with his arms still crossed. "I'll take my chances with you." I stood up and rested my hand on the table. "But if you are to do anything funny, there are weapons in here that I can get my hands on."

He gave me the usual grin. "Alright, I guess I just have to convince you that I am harmless in every aspect of myself." His arms relaxed and fell to his sides. "Hmm-right sit down already 'cause you standing there is making me feel a little bit uneasy," I motioned him to sit down in the chair I was sitting in.

"Sure, I wouldn't want my new friend to feel uncomfortable now would I." He walked to my seat as I stepped away to stand by the door. "Yeah, now this is how you're supposed to treat guest!" My body leaned against the door as I gave in to that comment. "Yeah, well your more like an unwanted one," I smirked.

"You sure are an aggressive one." A chuckle came forth. "And you wonder why, which reminds me…" I paused to look at his bothered expression. My arms folded.

"Do you have any friends?"

His eyebrows rose as to be astonished by my question. He turned the other way as if it was a hard question to answer. "Yeah…" he faced me once more. "I do, but…there gone…can't find them," he said scratching his chin. I leaned off of the door, feeling a lodge settling in my throat. My eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean by you can't find them exactly?" My arms fell as I stepped up closer to the table, really wondering what he was saying to me.

His eyes turned up to me and he began to speak. " Well, it's like we sorta' lost each other, ya'know…?" From that, I began to feel empathy for him, for the lost of his friends. 'I guess I can understand how he's been feeling all this while. It must hurts_…' _My arms rose into a cross at the feeling of Goosebumps covering my exposed skin; I let my head fall. " I see…" A silent pause came up in the kitchen.

My aura felt him move so I looked up to see him looking at me with a bleak grin. "You don't have to feel bad for me. I mean it's not like it's the end of the world, besides…" he leaned back in the chair with his arms up behind him. " I'll find them sooner or later." He grinned. "Got it memorized?"

I huffed a laugh at his silliness. For some reason, I believed what he was saying to me was true; but not just the way he said, but how he responded. "Okay, well I hope you do find your friends." I held my hands as I put them behind my back. The lodge disappeared.

"Well thanks…and what about you," 'Uh-what?' 'What are you doing in this world besides jumping off of cliffs into fish water?" He raised an eyebrow as if to be really curious. My feet stepped to my left as I began to get the urge of telling him about myself. "What a nosey person you are, but if you must know…" I looked down, "I'm on a mission to find my sister." That felt weird saying that to him.

"Your sister?" My eyes gazed up. "Huh-I wouldn't not thought you had a sister…" he looked away.

I crossed my arms. "Well-uh-yeah-surprise?" My muscles tensed. 'As if he were to know that anyway, but wait that doesn't matter he knew that or not!' "Well like I said, I'm searching to find my sister." My nose turned up trying to get yet another reaction from his apathetic attitude.

He turned back my direction. "What happened?" A sigh came forth, regretting of even opening this subject up. I rubbed my temples. "A lot happened, but I don't want to delve into much detail…but," I paused and rested my hand on the table to support my weight. "All I'll say is that, we all got separated and-"

"All?"

"Oh yeah, including my mother and father and, well… it happened almost a year ago and-." A lodge came up as my muscles tensed. "And when my parents disappeared, they told me to look out for me and my sister…but I failed on my sister's part…" Tears came up in my eyes, but I refused to let spill in front of him. Mucus made me sniff and rub my nose, so I sat down trying to build myself up with my head hanging low. There was yet, another long pause that filled the kitchen.

'So sensitive I am…I can't believe I almost broke down in front of a stranger. This is too awkward for me.'

Soon after that, the red head broke the silence."There are a lot of bad things in this world that make people sad and miserable y'know? Your not the only one that have had bad stuff happen to them…" My head came up slowly to look at him with discernment in his features.

I shot him a glance. "You don't think I knew that?" He chuckled as he shook his head to raise his hand upon the table. "Of course you do, but do you know what's the worse?" he leaned back with a smirk as if he knew something classified.

A huff of irritation showed in my voice. "If you know, what is it hot shot?"

He leaned back in his chair with now a serious display of emotion. "Becoming a nobody or a heartless."

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**Author's note: **Please review so that I'll know if it going well and that I'll know if someone is reading. Would you please T-T


	4. Turning Point

**Another chapter for the story! Woo-Hoo!**

**But yeah another chapter...Hope you like!**

**I'll try to speed it up some then if you would like ^^**

***Edit*" Just a new idea. I've been thinking about it and I decided to changed her age**

**Disclaimer: _(Look in first chapter)_**

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**Turning Point**

"Nobody and heartless?" My eyebrows crooked in puzzlement, but soon faded as I thought about those two words.

He leaned up to the table and straightened up his back with a sigh; he spoke as if he was talking to himself. "Shouldn't they be teaching this to kids now-a-days?" I huffed from that comment and gazed in my seat with mild annoyance and confusion stirring my nerves. "I'm not a kid…" He chuckled. "Huh-you don't need to get your nose out a joint," I felt him smile. I looked up. "But, besides that, I have heard of them."

"Well, that's good to know, which means I don't need to explain as much." He shifted in his chair and laid his hands on the table with a pleased smile. I curved a brow up. "Explain what exactly, there's more?" He sighed with reluctance. "Well, you might as well know since your telling me so much about yourself and in return, I should tell you who I really am…"

'Eh? Who he really is?' My heart was on edge. The atmosphere of the room turned to a feeling of worry building up between the two of us, which I hoped would pass soon after his brief talk about himself. He seemed somewhat hesitant to tell me with his face filled with uncertainty. He broke the silence.

"I'm a nobody."

'A nobody?' My mind stirred to the knowledge that my father once told me about. "A nobody…I've heard of that."

"Good, so you should understand what I'm saying then." He turned his face the other way. "I have no heart and you know what my mission is? It's to find my heart." What was coming out of his mouth was unbelievable to me. Was he really a nobody? I couldn't believe him.

"But, how could that be?" My muscles jumped in my seat. "I mean, it seems to me you can display emotions and-and-"

"Well that's the idea," he interrupted my stuttering accusation while standing on his two feet. "We do that in order to feel more human than emotionless people."

"But still…" My mind just couldn't get around that spine-chilling fact that he was a nobody, someone who isn't human. "But…but…"

"Okay just listen," he said as he came up to me with irritation in his voice. "Okay, you know that nobodies are beings without a heart. They lose that heart when a heartless takes it and therefore are emotionless beings." I nodded in agreement. "So when that happens, the person can turn into one of two types of nobodies," he said pointing two fingers in the air. "Depending on the strength of the person's heart, if it is weak, the person turns into a dusk and loses many aspects of its human characteristics. If the heart is strong, the being keeps its human appearance, but has minor changes to their look and turns emotionless, like myself." I knew what he is saying was true.

'But should he be somewhere else?' "Huh…that's true, but if you are a nobody, should you be in another world?" He crossed his arms with a grin. "That is a good question. Nobodies, like myself, have inhuman powers if they can awaken it from within." He paused. "I can travel from world to world by using a tunnel of darkness, called the 'corridor of darkness'. "Corridor of darkness?"

He stepped back and turned to wave his hand. Up came a billow of black smoke that swirled a cloudy texture up to his height with a dull blue color in the middle; it reminded me of darkness that I've seen before. My jaw dropped in shock of what he was saying was true. I was having an encounter with an inhuman being, a nobody. I surpassed the fright that came up in my chest, but just sat still, not knowing what to do or say at that point.

"Scarred?" he said with a nonchalant attitude. "No!" I gave in to a clamor. "I'm not scarred-why should I be?" 'I wasn't going to make him think that I was scarred of a person like him. Thinking he was all cool just because he brought a puffy cloud of darkness in here.' But even though my heart lacked settlement, I didn't feel I had to be afraid either way.

"Hmph good!" he began. "You don't have to be scarred anyway." The dark cloud dispersed in thin air. I closed my eyes sighing of air, while pressing my hands against my knees.

'Now that brings it home…' "Now you truly convinced me." I stood up off the chair, holding my arms behind my back. "It's better to show then tell anyway." Before he could open his mouth I interrupted. "Well, I guess I should say that I'm sorry for the lost of your heart. My head lowered slightly waiting for a response.

"Yeah thanks, but you don't have to worry about that either." I looked up to see him scratching his head, having an anxious look on his face. "I'll find it sooner or later." His mouth turned up into a mild grin. My eyes scanned his face and found uncertainty in his green eyes; though he tried to conceal them, I took notice. 'Hmm…he must be eager for his heart. Of course he is…does he have any help? Does he need any help?' Obviously for myself, I felt a feeling of concern for him; he lost his friends and his heart. It must be hard for him, but he said that he couldn't feel emotions. For some reason, I had a gut feeling he had some type of emotions in him that they could be displayed if he did something that might make them come out. It's only a thought though, besides, he did get on my nerves times before with those smirks of his.

I twinkled a grin at him. His eyebrows curved adding a confused smile in. "What?"

"Well, even though you have no heart, it still seems to me that you can display at least a little emotion." I turned away waiting for his answer. "Well like I said, that's what nobodies pretend to do."

"Yeah well," I looked down at the table still grinning. "I believe that you can still produce even a little of emotion, somewhere deep inside in your soul," I said, twisting my body pointing to where his heart should be. My feet walked backward as my hand searched for the table to place itself to support my weight. He chuckled slightly and rolled his eyes, turning his head away."Sure, whatever you say miss-know-it-all."

"Hum-hmm!" My head sunk. "And I was sorta' thinking." I brought my head up and saw him looking at me with his hands on his hips with his mouth partly open. My legs stood up. "How about I help you out, y'know with your mission?" His curious mien turned up to the ceiling with his body shaking of laughter. "Ha ha ha ha!" I gazed at his laughing get-up and stood with my eyebrows stitched together. 'He's not taking me seriously…'

"What? I'm serious; I want to help you out!" By this time he was hunched over, so he looked up and stood with his arms crossed. "It's all right kid," he said with his shaking simpering stance. "I got it covered."

My arms crossed with a huff. "I am not a kid! I'm eighteen Years old you know…well almost, but that doesn't matter. I still want to help!" His head went down with a sigh of complexity. "Well, lets say I did take you." He looked up with a smirk. "Hypothetically speaking of course; I would have to protect and look out for you and all of that baby-sitting stuff. I mean your nothing but a babe in the woods. I'll rather not go through looking out for someone who might get in my way."

"Huhhh I won't get in your way! Just because I'm a babe in the woods, it doesn't mean I can't figure things out on my own!"

"Hmm, well what about your mission huh?" He stepped one foot forward with his eyes looking down on me like he was the dominant one. My head turned to the side, feeling my heart heavy with unpleasantness. "Well, If I go with you to help you out, not only will I be helping you, but also myself." He raised his brow. "Yourself?" I turned to face him. "Yeah, if I go with you, I'll have more experience with knowing the different worlds and such."

"Ha! So you got your own motives?" He cocked his head to the side. "Well, so…we'll be helping each other out anyway!" He looked down on me with a pause. My toes raised themselves to heighten myself with him waiting for a response. He rested a finger on his chin, knowing I can never level up with him. "Y'know searching for a heart is no bed of roses." He leaned forward with a smug grin, which made me lessen myself into backing up against the chair behind me. My arms crossed with my own form of a smile. "Please," I waved my hand in midair with haughtiness. "I love challenges, besides; it seems you have been searching your heart for a while."

"Huh-how would you know?" He straightened himself with wonder. "Mmmm, I don't know-I guessed."

"Well, you figured right." He sighed. "It feels likes it's been forever." I sat down in the wooden chair behind me and crossed my fingers together in question. "How long exactly?" He turned his head. "Almost three years," he said with the voice of distress. I looked down with a grin. "Yeah…you really are in need of help."

"Be quiet!"

"Both of us I might add. So, will you let me come along?" My head rose to see his eyebrows curved with his lips pursed. There was a small pause in the room where everything felt still; my heart beat with anticipation hoping he would allow me to accompany him. "Hmm…let's see, you want to find your sister and I want to find my heart. You want to help me out though. It's strange how you would put a stranger before your sister. I gulped. 'It is sorta' weird, but it's for a good cause.' He placed his finger on his chin again with stitched eyebrows and gave way to an answer in less than a minute. "I guess…it's only fair to help you find your sister if you help me find my heart." My eyes lighted. 'Does that mean…?'

He looked down sighing with thin keenness. "Huh…fine you can come along to help and I'll help you find your sister." He looked up with a wide grin and narrowed eyes. "You scratch my back and I scratch yours. You do seem to be able to handles things by the way you carry yourself." My heart felt lifted as I jumped up with happiness. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" I punched the air with a smiling demeanor. 'I can't believe this was happening. I'll be able to search worlds and find my sister, not to mention finding the heart of a nobody. What an awesome adventure this will be!' I started to begin to do my victory dance which required a lot of silly movement when I remembered who was in the room with me. I opened my eyes and turned around and saw the redhead simpering, looking amazed at what he was looking at. My body was halfway twisted with my arms bent in the air with my hands in fists. I turned towards him feeling goofy and embarrassed with my cheeks warm. "Ah…you didn't see nothing." He just shook his head with amusement. My hands held themselves behind my back as I walked up to him with a big smile. My eyes stared at his tall structure.

"Thanks stalker-boy; I wouldn't have never known you could offer so much." I had a feeling of moderation towards him that I wanted to give him a hug of thanks, but that would be awkward and weird for the both of us. He waved his hand. "Don't mention it." He then pointed his finger at me. "And the names not stalker-boy, it's Axel." He raised his finger to his forehead and tapped it. "Got it memorized?" I raised an eyebrow at him with my arms crossed. "Ugh, do you always say that?" I said grunting with a huff. He put his hands on his hip and leaned forward. "What do you think?"

"Hmph, well my name is Deonna," I said with a small grin. He nodded his head with a rather happy conduction of himself. "Well now that we know each other…" He then turned and went to open my refrigerator that was on the left side of the kitchen near the door. "What do you got in here I'm starving! Got any Ice cream?" My body shifted from the feeling of cheerfulness to the feeling of annoyance as I furrowed my eyebrows. "Hey, just 'cause your welcome in my home doesn't mean you get to snoop around in my food!" My feet ran up to him trying to get him out of my fridge.

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**Reviews are love!~**


	5. An Interrupted Beginning

**Hello reader** ^^ **Um, well this chap was pretty long I have to admit _(_**_**wasn't really expecting that)**_ **But I hope you like it enough to read and read the next one and the next...**

**I do try to keep the characters' in character (referring to Axel) so I'm glad you noticed ^^  
**

**_Disclaimer: (In first chapter)_  
**

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**An interrupted Beginning**

My feet walked along the dirt road with the green tree leaves in overhead, which hardly blocked the sun from our foreheads. My backpack clung to my back that held important necessities. Two placed katana swords were also glued to my back in two scabbards. Axel was walking steadily behind me. We were just now leaving the house where I lived for the remainder of my life; from infant to teenager.

We both decided to leave in two days, but during those two days, I thought of nothing but what we were going to encounter and see. Heartless perhaps; Axel said we were definitely going to see lots of those. Evil little vermin, that snatches people hearts out for their own pleasure. I knew my weapons probably won't do much damage to them, but I could still try; I was going to find my sister and Axel's heart. No telling how long away I would be from my home…my nostalgic home.

I twisted slightly to see Axel up on the side of me trying to even with my pace. 'When did he get here?' I turned back to the road, just now seeing a large gap of space up ahead where the sun shone significantly. "Deonna…" He broke my small trance.

"Eh?" I looked up and saw his arms up behind his back with his face composed in thought. "I was wondering how you knew all about the different worlds and stuff anyway. How'd you know?" he said with curiosity. "Well, I learned about them by my parents telling me of them throughout my life." I looked back down, feeling special in a way. "Hmm seems that your parents were very informative people." My lips curved slightly. "Yeah, you can say that. They really wanted to ingrain important stuff into me and my sister." 'And so they did.'

I sighed. "Just if you were at my house more often, you would know more about me."'

'Tch quite acting like you don't know why," he said with a huffed laugh. A laugh came forth in giggles as I placed my hand over my mouth. "I already know. I was just messing with you."

"Yeah right." About this time, we made it to that clear space where leaves where out of the way of the sun to expose itself on our walking tract; From where I was, the path parted right, where you could see the sky and an open trail free of leaves and trees. Axel voiced out again at this particular time. "Hey Deonna, I've been thinking…" My body halted just as I was about to enter where the forest marked the dirt path. " Hmmm?" I turned a little bit, but turned further when I saw Axel at the center of the clearing in a wide spread stance.

"You say that your parents taught you some stuff about fighting and such?" Axel yelled as if he didn't know the answer to that question. My body twisted all the way in his direction with a confused glare; I just stood there feeling annoyance curve its way up my nerves. "Uh yeah!" I noticed he had a slight smirk showing in his mien, which probably meant he was about to do something silly. "What are you doing? We can talk while we walk!" I was about to turn around when he spoke up again. "No wait! I want to see something!" "Ugh what?" I grunted with my arms at a cross. He placed his fingers up like a mad scientist with a huge grin and spoke in a monotonous voice. "I want to fight you."

My eyebrows crooked with puzzlement at his far off comment. 'What…?' "You want to challenge me!" I said pointing to myself with dubiousness. "You got to be joking! I'm not fighting you!"

"Oh come on!" He put his hands on his hips, shifting his weight on his feet in an imposing challenging way. "Just a friendly competition." He crossed his arms. "Let me see you swing that stick around!" Obviously, I knew what he was talking about. "It's not a stick, it's a katana you pea brain! And I'm not fighting you!" I crossed my arms and turned around with my eyebrows stitched together. 'Idiot...what's with guys and competition…?'

"Can we just go?"

"Oh come on Deonna! I just want to see how good of a fighter you are!" My ears heard him coming up behind me in a quick walk. "It'd be better if I knew anyway so that I could tell how hard you would be against a heartless." A sigh came forth from my mouth as I thought of his words; I closed my eyes, feeling his aura near me. After a few moments, I realized what he was getting at and thought of going through with it. 'Hmph…I guess I have to admit that is a pretty smart gesture…' And I believed it was. 'But I don't want to fight him, but then again I do, just to see how strong I am against him…a new challenge perhaps?' My ears heard the wind blow gently through the leaves as it made the leaves shake movement in the trees; it hit my skin giving me a sensation of repose, despite the situation I was having with Axel. I finally opened my eyes with my verdict, but feeling rather averse to it.

"I'll fight you, Axel happy?" I felt his spirit perk up from behind in a shocked voice. "Eh really?"

'"Yeah, I guess so, might as well." I took my backpack off and through it by a berry like bush and turned on my heels to look up at him who showed a pleased face. "Tch crybaby."

"He, he," he tittered. "You're going to regret that as soon as we start fighting!" He turned and went to where he was standing before. "Oh please, go ahead and hold nothing back!" I reached my hands back in an X-form and pulled both my silver-blazed katanas' out of its scabbards. A smirk crept up. At first, I felt reluctant to go ahead with this. But now, pulling my blades from there resting place, I felt excited. I stood with them both in hand, feeling like a pro as the hearing of green leaves shook further more. "Ooh somebody's eager!" Axel said with smugness. He widened his legs out and bent down with his arms out to its sides in a cool like manner. Spinning circles came up in his hands in sparks of fire that finally showed two circular disks with spikes on its exterior. My heart sped up with a nervous eagerness as to what will happen during this fight. 'Will he really try to hurt me?' His head shot up with a smirk, the smirkiest smirk I've ever seen him display.

"Oh, did I forget to tell you that I have the power over fire?"

"Please don't get smug-oh yeah you did forget to mention that." 'Was he trying to scare me into freight?' Well, it partly worked, but I wasn't going to show it not the least. "Don't go easy on me you hear?"

"Alright you asked for it."

I put my swords in front of me in an X form like I always did before, but this time wondering who was going to strike first. My answer gave way when a circular disk came up at me with fast motion. I dodged it by kneeling down and running up to him with speed, ignoring his first attack. With my swords at my side, I brought one up trying to get him hit with my blade. I felt the impact hit him but he disappeared into a black ball before I could do any real damage. Stunned, I turned around and saw him coming up from behind with both weapons at hand. I quickly turned and placed my left hand in front of me with my right at the side and ran to him. He placed his disk in front of him as I did the same and made a blockage with our weapons as a guard.

"Your pretty quick little missy," he said like he was impressed. "Hmph!" I jumped back and ran around him to the left with his eyes following intently. I stopped at the other side of him and jumped in the air; I pulled my weapon up, wanting to strike him with the handle to his head. He seemed hesitant for a second as to how close I was to him. The handle soared down almost into his head, but missed because he disappeared yet again. My legs fell into his spot with a kneeling stance not wanting to damage my legs. I looked up and saw him with his weapons in the air spinning with fire.

'Good thing he missed because that hit would have hurt for a week. What is he up to now?' I didn't realize how far I was going into this; I didn't really honestly want to hurt him. Before I knew it, fire came up in flames from the ground; I instinctively jumped trying to avoid getting burnt. 'Maybe he didn't think the same- perhaps it's just a test.'

I jumped to less burnt ground on my right, trying to avoid getting burnt and getting hit by the flying disk. I soon made my way over to him on my left and struck his right arm without him noticing my appearance. The fire dispersed, leaving the smell of smoke still present in the atmosphere. I jumped back and ran across from him to see him with both disks in his hands, showing a grin of entertainment plastered on his face. I grinned back. "You really a tough cookie aren't cha?" he asked.

"Perhaps, you can say that." Before we both knew it, we were both running at each other with our weapons at hand. Just before I swung a hit, a feeling of immense pain hit the top of my head. My weapons dropped out of my hands as I saw black crowding up my vision. "Deonna!" Were the only words I heard from Axel mouth.

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"De..o..a." Deo..a." Deo..na!"

The feeling of strong hands shook my shoulders intently, calling out my name.

"Deonna!"

My eyes went in and out from the darkness of sleep and the light of day.

"Deonna!"

'That voice…Axel…?' Hands lightly slapped my face for some reason, which made me wake up from my tiredness. My hazy eyes finally opened to see green eyes filled with concern. "Eh…dad?" I asked with blurred eyes. He laughed lightly. "Man you really are out of it huh?" My vision came to me as I saw Axel starring at me with a light grin. "You alright?"

His right hand tilted me to sit upright; I raised my hand and sat it on my forehead to rub it, trying to unwind myself of my grogginess. "What…happened?" Before I knew it, a feeling of pain started to showcase itself in the middle of the top my head. "Ow…" I mumbled, rubbing it in pain. "You passed out. Something fell on your head." I looked up to see him kneeling on his knees on the left side of me, not realizing how close he was. He leaned over me and placed his hands on my head and touched my aching spot with light pressure. "Ow-what are you doing? You know that hurts!"

"Hmph, and you should probably know that I'm just checking out your head." I grunted. 'He should might as well use a magnifier glass…'

"What was it that fell on me anyway?" Before he could answer, I realized the damage he did to the green grass that was abundant; a whole lot of burnt marks here and there just like burnt marks on your skin. 'Whoa…' Just after that realization, he backed off on is heels with his eyes narrowed. "Not exactly sure." I stopped considering the mess up and watched him stand up above me like a giant over a city. 'Whoa… he's so freakin' tall from down here!'

He held his gloved hand out for me to grab; I did just that and grabbed it. I patted my clothes and hair of dirt, waiting for him to continue. "It all happened so fast that…" He paused. Knowing he stopped talking almost instantly, I stopped dusting my self and saw him looking behind me at the ground with a raised brow. My body turned as to what he was looking at. "What? What are you looking at…?" I slowed my sentence to a stop as to see what have possibly fallen on my head; A metal dark pole that had the appearance of a key; It was glinting in the sun of a light so bright like a star in the night; it was only a few feet away from us. "A Keyblade!" Axel exclaimed in disbelief. "Huh?" I turned to look at him, but he had already started to move towards the object in a rushing movement that brushed off my shoulder. My feet caught up with him where we both finally stopped to stare at the keyblade. It had the colors of black and a hint of a pinkish-purple in diagonal stripes on the fuller, while the blade part had a key shape that had a design in the middle of it, with two angular appendages on both side, helping the blade to connect to the fuller.

"A keyblade huh?" I knelt down to observe its features attentively. My heart, yet again sped up with excitement. 'Wow-can't believe I get to see a keyblade up so close like this!' Almost all my life I've only heard of the word keyblade; now it just so happen that one have fallen on my head during my battle with Axel. What a chance of a life time, to at least touch it…

"Well we don't have all day here to dilly-daily, are you goin' to pick it up or what?" Axel's voice woke me up out my thought. "Oh right." My hand shook a little as I picked up the blade with caution. Standing up myself, it didn't feel so heavy like I thought it would be with its big structure full. "Wow! I haven't seen one of these things in ages!" Axel said, almost with a nostalgic voice.

"Hmmm…" I turned to Axel who was on my left, who looked at me with starry eyes, and then I looked up to the sky where no tree leaves were in view of the clouds presence. 'Wha- why would it fall out of the sky though?" My head dropped down to look at its features again. "Hmmm…perhaps it's broke," Axel said. I looked up at him, who then shrugged as in 'I-don't-know'. I looked back down and observed the chain that hung suspend at the end of the handle, with a heart symbol at the end of it. "Hmm, maybe it is broke." By then, I walked a few feet away from Axel and started to swing it around like I did with my two swords. "No, no it can't be broke…" I stopped and looked back at Axel who had his finger on his chin with a contemplating look. "That's impossible. It can't be broke." He came up to me and crossed his arms. "Just busted."

My eyebrows crooked in stupidity. "Axel that's the same thing!"

"Well, I don't know what to say. It's broke and busted!" "Well, whatever. It's a weird thing to happen, knowing it's supposed to come up in your hand when you are in danger…" A pause came up. 'Wait- I was fighting Axel, but…' Axel spoke up, interrupting my thoughtful trance. "We were fighting each other. Your feelings must have brought it to you." I looked up at him, feeling the muscles in my face contorted in confusion. "But, I didn't really feel like I was in danger."

"Maybe subconsciously," Axel spoke, as if he knew all the answers to the questions. I looked down, having a feeling that the keyblade came as a protection for me. "Perhaps… but I still would have beaten you either way!" I shot my head up with a smirk. He rose is eyebrows and pursed his lips into a short whistle. "I had no idea you could be so cocky." 'I gave way to a titter. "I'm not really," I said with a wave. "I was just kidding. I'm not really sure who would've won."

"Hmph." He turned around and placed his hands on his hips. I just looked at his smug gesture, as if he knew he probably would have won. For all we knew, it probably would have been a tie the way we were both going at it. "Well, I'm sure you know what this means," Axel began. "Huh?" He was still turned looking suspenseful. "It means that you are able to fight heartless more greatly now." He turned around with a small grin with his hands still on his hips. "We hit the jackpot. Got it memorized?" he said, tapping his head. My eyes turned narrow and grunted a line. "Just if you could at least forget to say that for once…"

"Ha- I don't think that's possible!" My head dropped feeling slightly annoyed. 'Maybe when he's sleep? Heck! He probably even says it in his sleep!'

"Well, I believe it would be wise to continue on this big journey, especially since we got this hunk of metal here to help us along the way,"Axel said. "Yeah, you're right, except that we hardly even started!" His hand waved in the air and he turned around, yet again. "Stop complaining. The sooner we begin, the more ground we are to likely cover."

"Fine." By then, I started to search for my other two swords where I fell from. They were in the same spot; I ran to them, dropped my keyblade and started to put them in my scabbards. "Hey! Uh I don't think you will need those anymore." I looked and saw Axel looking at me. "You got the keyblade now. Using those would just be like a crick in your neck."

"But…" I sighed. 'I guess that would be wise as well, It's just that I haven't used these in ages…'

"Fine, I'll be back." I picked up my keyblade and started on my way back to the house.

Going back to the house through the forest, I didn't realize how far down the sun has gotten. Though I couldn't see the sun through the trees being in the view, I knew a sunset was setting on the east coast of the island. I finally arrived at the brown house and opened the door. When I went inside, the house looked dark of gloom with a discarded feeling showing in its presence. 'This house will be empty for a while.' My head turned to the left and saw a tad pale light from the outside shown through the window by the refrigerator, where little particles could be seen floating in the midst. 'Definitely going to be empty.' My feet subconsciously walked toward the woodened table; I lifted my blades from their scabbards and gracefully placed them on the table. 'So much for using my precious babies.' A sigh came forth as I turned and headed for the door. My heart started to feel heavy, like earlier before I left the house. I decided to look at the interior of the house one last time; everything will be cold when I get back, everything I will most likely touch, if I do come back. My hand twisted the knob and opened it to feel fresh air coming in the cold dome. I went out and closed the door, my feet landing on the 'welcome mat'.

"Of course I'll be back…" With that thought in mind, my feet ran back towards where Axel was.

* * *

After a few moments of running, I saw Axel waiting patiently with his head hanging low, leaning up against a tree where the sun shone on him from the east with a resting look on his face. He appeared blameless yet again, like when I first met him. He brought his head up in my direction and saw me with widened eyes. He beamed a grin. "About time you got back."

"Be quiet," I said with a grunt. I walked up to him, still holding my keyblade in hand. "You ready?" I asked him. "Well, that is what I've been waiting, for so yeah."

"Okay then lets go." I went up towards the bush where my backpack was and grabbed it to put on my back; I started walking towards the path where I stopped from the beginning. "Eh, wait where are you going?" My feet halted do to Axel's question. "What do you mean?" I turned around and saw Axel showing a smirk, as usual. "Listen, were taking the corridor of darkness, 'Kay?" My eyebrows crooked. "Huh-what?" I went back towards his stance and crossed my arms. "Were taking that dark path you have control over?" He raised his finger and tapped my head. "Bingo!" Still confused and at the moment, slightly annoyed I asked him yet, another question. "Well, why didn't you tell me that before?" He gave me a smug look. "Since you started off first in front of me, I just wondered where you would lead us to, just to see exactly where you would go."

'That's the point isn't it? There is no where to go on this island. My eyebrow ticked of annoyance as my muscles stiffened. "You know I hate it when you annoy me like that."

"What's to hate?"

"I hate you."

He tittered as his body shook mildly. "You really shouldn't say stuff that you don't mean." He was right, I didn't mean it. I'm just upset that he almost happened to make a fool of me! Out of nowhere, a dark cloud came up behind Axel in swirls. It was tall as Axel; a gulped came up in my throat. He looked down on me, probably studying my face. I looked up and he spoke. "I'm warning you though; I don't feel mighty comfortable using this with you."

"Huh?"

"If you don't wear what I'm wearing, your heart could be corrupted. So stay close." I nodded with consent and got closer to him, but only barley touching him. He placed his hand on my shoulder and forced me by his side on him. "Eh!" I looked up at him and he looked down. He grinned. "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm doing this for you y'know." I grinned slightly feeling uncertain. 'I guess so…' But to me, it was awkward since I only met him just a few days ago. His warm body started walking towards the dark cloud as I followed right by him with my arms around his waist. 'Oh, so awkward.' We both entered together; once inside, my eyes closed out of slight freight, not wanting to see what might be in the darkness, if there was anything. Axel walked a few feet, holding me tightly as I followed suit. My eyelids felt a shiny light wanting to pass through my eyes. I opened them and saw an orange colored sky with only a few clouds in view. There were a few building on both sides of me and what appeared to be a road that I was standing on. Axel let go of his grasp on me and stood in front of me, grinning.

"Well, were here D. Were in Twilight town."

'Twilight town?' My eyes gazed at the buildings and the shops that seemed somewhat empty, almost like a ghost town. It seemed quiet. "Twilight town huh? Is there any people in this place?"

"Yeah, there is a lot might I add. I just transferred where less people could see us."

"Hmm." The glassy windows appeared clean and shiny on the building on my left; I walked up to it and saw my reflection. I gasped; no keyblade. My right hand raised itself as my eyes just almost peered through it. "My keyblade is gone!" Axel came up and I looked at him with fret. "No sweat Deonna. It'll come back when the time is right," Axel said with assurance. "But what if it doesn't?" I let my hand fall, feeling my heart being dragged. He put his hands on his hips. "Don't be silly! It'll come back."

"Mmmm-it better."

"It will," Axel said with a wink. My heart felt funny when he did that, but I ignored the feeling, knowing what it meant. He turned and looked back at me with a grin. "I know what will make you feel better. Follow me." He started walking ahead with a leader posture, while I followed like a puppy. After making a few turns here and there, we both made it to an ice cream carrier where a man was selling ice cream. I was standing on the side of Axel when he took out four munny and put it in the man's hand. "Two sea-salt ice creams please." The man grabbed the money and took out two ice cream bars out of the carrier and handed them to Axel. "Here ya go!"

"Thank you," I said with a grin to the man. "Oh, yea thanks," Axel said. He then turned to me. "Here, eat up!" I took it out of his hand and just looked at it, weirded out by the name. "Sea-salt ice cream?"

"Yeah, don't hate it 'till you try it!"

"Right…" I stuck my tongue out to lick it. It was cold and icy feeling, hardly getting a taste from it. I started to suck on it to warm it up and soon, I finally started to taste the flavor; a creamy cold treat that had the flavor of vanilla and salt. My eyes widened in content to this treat. "This is good!"

"Told ya! Let's go over here." He directed me to follow him over by a bench where a tree was overhead. We walked a few feet and sat down on the cold bench. After a few moments of sitting down, I heard Axel smacking on his ice cream so I turned to look at him. He was eating and smacking on it like there was no tomorrow with his legs crossed and left arm up on the top of the bench behind me. He noticed me looking at him and smiled with blue liquid lining the top of his lip. "Man, your really tearing that thing up huh?"

"Pretty evident hmm?"

"Sure is…" I paused with a thought giving way. "What made you want to look here first though?"

"Twilight town is the town where people who have lost there heart come here afterwards. So most likely, your sis would be here if she disappeared and lost her heart."

"Huh…" My eyes diverted me to look up at the sky with the appearance still the same before; orange and sunny with different hues of red from the sun. 'If my sister is here, then I should find her sooner than I thought. I thought an adventure was supposed to be fun…a well. But it will be more exciting to see her more than anything.' I licked my ice cream once more, grinning in pleasure. 'This did cheer me up!'

"Ahhh!" A voice screeched behind us, making me jump out of my seat. "What in the world!" Axel said as he turned around. My head turned as well to see black creatures down the street, attacking civilians. "Oh great! Just when I was feeling relaxed!" I turned back on my right to look at him who showed an agitated leer on his face. "So this means we should help them right?" He sighed. "Yeah, might as well or else they would just spread all over the place." I stood up with ice cream in hand with my hand on my hip, furrowing my eyebrows. "Why do you sound so reluctant? Come on, let's go help them!" My feet started off as I heard another scream. "Wait for me! You can't start the party without me!" I paused and looked back from his outburst. He came up to me with the stick of the ice bar in his mouth. "Maybe you can start putting that blade of your in good use." I beamed a grin. "Oh yeah!" I looked down at my hand and tried to call it to me. Nothing happened. "Huh? Why won't it come?" My body started to feel whoozy and heavy, almost instantly from trying to call the blade to me. "Wha…what...is happening?" My ice cream dropped out of my hand as I pressed my hand against my head.

"Deonna?"

"Axel…I…" My legs felt weak, making me fall on my knees due to not feeling well.

"Deonna!" I heard Axel call out my name as darkness submerged my mind.

* * *

_**Author's note: Ahhh! What happened to Deonna? Read the next chap to find out(whenever I put it up...I will when I get the chance)**_


	6. Long Time No See

**(Disclaimer: _Look in first chapter_)**

* * *

**Long Time No See**

"Mmmm…" The sound of emptiness was what I could hear as I rhymed a hum. My legs were sprawled out on a flat hard surface where my body faced, just now waking up from a snooze. My eyes blinked slowly. I leaned up on my hands and brought one to touch my forehead, a strange sensation within me.

"What…?"

It was dark and occupied of only me from what I could see. "What the hell? Where am I?"

Anticipation rose as I finally decided to stand up. There was nothing I could see, not even a light in neither direction. The blood in my veins pumped faster and faster, starting to feel rather hot. "Uhm…h-hello!" No reply but the sound of my echoes that spoke back. I placed my hand on my hip while my eyebrows contorted with thought.

"What is going on? Wait a sec…"

My mind just started to recall what happened in little fragments._ Twilight Town…Heartless…Axel…that's all I remember_. My eyes widened.

_I passed out!_

My breathing became a little heavy, not knowing what to do at this point. I started to look back forth. _There's no where for me to go, but I can't just stay her._ Sadness came over me like a blanket of gloom, _what do I do?_

Suddenly out of nowhere, a voice loud as a thunder came up in the darkness that disrupted me from my sad dilemma. "Deonna…"

"Ah!" My body jumped with a yelp of surprise. I wrapped my arms around myself feeling bare of nothing.

"What-wh-what the…!"

"Please do not be afraid." The voice spoke again, this time realizing the voice was gentle enough to take ear. "Uhhh…" My heart was beating so fast that it could have hammered its way out of me. I wiped my forehead quickly of sweat and started to feel that I should speak up with my primary question. "I-uh- who are you? Where am I?"

"Please do not be afraid," the voice said, "for you are in your awakening."

_My awakening?_

From that word, light and movement illuminated from under me as I shielded my eyes from the shock. After the feeling of inanimate objects disappeared, I unshielded myself. _Wait…_ I looked above me to see a school of birds flying ahead of me in one direction, the same scene I've envisioned in my dream. I looked back down, trying to adjust the sight of bright light in my eyes. My eyes finally adjusted after a few moments, so I rubbed them to see faces of people I've never seen before, and a few who I knew just with one look; they were all in a circle separate from each other as I stood on one. There was a boy with spiky brown hair and blue eyes with a genuine smile on his face; one who was another boy with silver long hair who shown a small grin and blue eyes. What surprised me was that I saw Axel's face in one of the circular panels with a smile. _Axel._ My feet walked further up to see a friend of mine who I haven't seen in a long time, since the darkness took over the island a few years ago; she had brown hair that was uneven on either sides with a smile plastered on her face. _Jian_. I saw a guy with brown skin, blue eyes and white colored hair in a panel as well; never seen him before. There was my sister in the middle of all of them with that cute grin of hers. "Kris…"

_Is this a dream…just like the dreams I've been having…?_

I looked on my right and saw a brown-skinned girl that looked like she was elongated on the entire platform, overlapping a few of the panels; she almost looked like me, holding a keyblade in her hand, sleep. "Wait that is me!"

The voice spoke again. "It is you."

My eyes directed me to look upwards toward the darkness that was still sparse above, even though light gave it a matte presence. "Why am I here? Who are you?"

"I am Kingdom Hearts and you are here so I can tell you of the journey ahead of you." I felt my heart stop. Kingdom Hearts was the heart of all the worlds.

_Kingdom Hearts!_

My eyes just gazed ahead, not looking at anything really. My mouth couldn't produce any words at that moment. My legs gave way to the ground as I felt my head spinning. "This gotta' be a dream," my hands rose up to my forehead in perplexity, "this can't be real. Yes I've definitely gone insane."

The voice spoke yet again. "But this is very well real. I advise that you listen to what I say for the time that you have here." I shook my head, trying to shake off the dubious feelings I was presenting to Kingdom Hearts and give it my undivided attention, despite how confused and edgy I was. I got up off the shiny surface, wondering what Kingdom Hearts would say. Kingdom Hearts spoke up again. "I know you are on a far-off journey to find your long-lost sister who has disappeared from your sight."

At that, I got the urge to speak up. "My sister? You know where she is?" My fists tightened.

"The only way for you to find her is to follow the spirit of your heart."

"The spirit of my heart?" _Wow, I never knew Kingdom Hearts would be so poetic-like..._

"The spirit of your heart, listen to it and follow it, for that is the way you will find all the answers you look for."

_All the answers huh?_

"Look," Kingdom Hearts began, "the faces who you know and who you have not seen before, you must find them."

"Find them…?"

"Yes, for if you find them not only will they be helping you, but you will be helping them as well."

I nodded. "Uh huh." My eyes stared down at the faces that illuminated with huge keenness. _They will help me…and I will help them…in what way?_ I walked up to the panel where Axel's face was in. I looked down at him and put my finger on my chin, starring at him with thought. _Well, Axel is helping me in a way, to find my sister. I am also helping him to find his heart…wow aren't I a genius…_

"Deonna," Kingdom Hearts spoke, waking me up from my train of thought. "The major thing you must accomplish is to find the 'key'."

"The 'key'?"

"Yes. It is but a mere boy whose name means 'sky', who journeys the worlds locking keyholes from the darkness of heartless." The voice paused. "He, to, is searching for the answers he look for, but in order for him to complete his mission, you must find him and help him, for he will help you to."

"Oookay," I said as I elongated the 'O' part. "What is his name?"

"Your heart will know once you encounter him." I moaned and looked down feeling empty. _Why won't Kingdom Hearts just tell me?_ I brought my head back up, wanting to get a clearer answer on the matter. "So the only way for me to find my sister and my friend's heart is to find the boy whose name means 'sky'?"

"You will find your sister with the spirit of your heart, as well as him."

"How? How do I follow the spirit of my heart?" I didn't mean to sound demanding, but I just couldn't help myself. There was a few seconds of silence, which made me feel even worse. Kingdom Heart spoke again. "You must listen to it and follow what you believe is right. Don't believe what others might say otherwise. Believe in yourself, and in that you will find. For a great calamity is on the horizon of existing worlds.

_Calamity?_

"The Keyblade will help you conquer this darkness, but first, you must find the people who will soon become friend of yours." My eyes narrowed. _The people I don't know…_ I looked down at the two boys, who I might eventually encounter soon. _I'll find them with the spirit of my heart and my sister…but wait_.

"Darkness?" I looked up, "what darkness?"

"You will soon encounter this challenging foe and it might be quite difficult, but with the great experiences you encounter, you are likely to achieve." After that sentence, the light from the platform began to illuminate more brightly, even more than the sun. "Ahh!" I threw my arms over my eyes. Then the voice of Kingdom Hearts came up enchantingly in my ears.

"Follow the spirit of your heart child, then you will have nothing to fear."

* * *

The ground was hard and felt narrow in comparison to myself. My body was on the ground, yet again, this time with a rugged feel. My eyes opened and found that I was exposed to the sky in a way that appeared that I was in the atmosphere. The sun's radiance glimmered on the concrete parapet that shielded me from seeing its light head on. I sat up using my hands, trying to regain what just happened to me from the encounter of being in a dream-like space. "Mmmmm…" I moaned as I closed my eyes. _What happened…did I pass out again?_

I rubbed my eyes and removed unwanted waste. I sat up further, only to bump up against a hard figure that was at my side. My eyes opened as I turned my upper body to the left to see Axel with a grin. "Ah good morning sleeping beauty!"

A groan came forth as I closed my eyes again.

"Axel…"

"You sleep well? I hope you did because I had to defeat all the heartless by myself," he said as if that was a bad thing, which does suck. Ignoring Axel's scolding, I opened my eyes to see the sun that was on the horizon far off into the distance where a train appeared stationed below. "Huh?" I leaned over the parapet to see where I was, but saw that I was high up on a building. A strike of energy hit my chest and leaned back. _Oh man, why the hell am I up here?_ I turned towards Axel to see how my body was laid; my legs were behind Axel who sat against the building arching over them, looking at me with curiosity. I didn't take notice and felt somewhat abashed.

"Hello! Planet Deonna! Anyone there?"

"Uh-eh?" Obviously I was spaced-out, and it took Axel at least five minutes to see that, gee why did I even bother to partner up with this guy.

"Man you really are far gone." He took his glove off his hand and leaned over with his face close to mine, placing his hand on my forehead, checking my temperature the old-fashioned way. My cheeks flushed, quickly moving his hand off and my legs from behind his warm body, sitting on my knees. "Hmmm… are you okay Deonna?" I quickly looked at him and turned back, feeling warm with shyness for some reason. "I'm okay I guess…"

"You don't look like it."

"How long was I out anyway?" I asked, wanting to talk about something else as I turned to look at him. "Well," he looked at his wrist like there was a watch there, "for a while I guess. I mean, for like a few hours."

"Hours!" My muscles jumped in astonishment. His eyebrows were contorted from my outburst with a sheepish grin. "Uh, yeah, perhaps. I mean I don't have a watch."

"Then why did you look at your wrists as if you had one?" I said, trying to mortify him. "Uh, well y'know some people do that." He looked away with his eyes narrowed with a mild flush in his cheeks. I just had to giggle at that, causing a reflective moment to stir within me. I stopped. "But really, hours?"

"It felt like it," he continued, "when you passed out earlier and I couldn't wake you, I put you on the bench where we were sitting on and went to defeat the heartless on the street. When I finished, I came back and tried to wake you up again, but nothing worked." He turned to look at me with his eyebrows curved up with a gloom. "I got to admit, you had me pretty worried there."

"Mmmm…I'm sorry," I said feeling guilt-ridden. His lips turned up into a slight grin. "But, I had a feeling you would wake up though, knowing you were still alive and all. So I took you up here, on the clock tower waiting for you to wake up."

"Huh- this is the clock tower?"

"Yep! Got it memorized?" he tapped his head.

I groaned. "Yeah, I got it." He chuckled and turned back to look where the sun shone on our faces. My eyes followed the direction of his to look at the orange-red marble in the sky. Its warm bright colors lighted up the entire town that made it glow, ceasing the faint loneliness of children and people present who has lost their hearts to the darkness. My eyes turned downcast into losing that shining thought. That dream.

_My awakening…was it truly real_? _It sure felt like it…but this means I really do have to follow the spirit of my heart_. I brought my knees up and put my arms on them to rest my chin on. _Following the spirit of the heart seems like a riddle that has to be deeply understood. Follow what you believe is right and listen to it? Mmmm pretty understandable...probably means to listen to your conscious or instinct or something_.

My face turned slightly to look at Axel, hoping to not get him to notice my stare. _I guess it wasn't a bad idea to run into him after all_. I grinned and turned back to let my legs go, crossing my arms comfortably. _I guess he really is that important to my life than I knew. Huhhh…he's going to help me…and I'm going to help him…but…Jian_.

Soon enough, Axel stood up to sit on the ledge of the tower and exhaled air. "Y'know, when I was in the organization, I used to bring my best friend up here with me to watch the sunset."

"Organization?"

He turned around, his eyebrows crooked with a grin. "Oh yeah, you don't know about the organization," he paused, "I used to be part of a group called 'Organization XIII' which included thirteen members. We banded together in order to find our lost hearts by bringing lost hearts to Kingdom hearts. We did this not to only get our hearts back, but to study the mystery of the heart as well." My eyes narrowed, not really getting all that he said.

"Okay you lost me there."

He sighed and turned back toward the sun. "I don't feel like explaining all that anymore."

So much for even bringing it up…

"Well anyway," he continued, "me and Roxas would look at the sunset after missions to talk about stuff, like friends would do," he sighed, "it made me sad when he left, like I was alone like before in the organization." He sounded doleful to my ears, his energy seeping in me. I didn't really know what to say as I listened to the glumness of his voice, so I just sat there with understanding. "He made me feel, like I had a heart."

My eyes widened a little bit with my eyebrows contorted. "Ooookay." He heard my elongated 'O' and turned his head with his eyebrows stitched, studying my face. "Hey, I didn't think of him that way! Keep your mind out of the gutter!" I laughed sheepishly, feeling like an Idiot. He turned back around with his arms at a cross. "Since I'm telling you this, you should at least know how it feels to loose a friend. Besides, when you're a 'nobody', you would like to spend time with the person who makes you feel like you're human again." I had a feeling that I should reply to his logical comment.

"Uh huh."

"Well, even though he was the only one who was my friend in the organization, I can't help but get the feeling that someone else was here up on the tower with us. It's weird."

Interesting…

"Y'know, Roxas was the 'nobody' of Sora, his 'somebody', who was my other friend." He turned and looked at me with a smirk. "You know both were able to use the Keyblade."

A smile curved up on my lips that made me lean off of the wall. "That's cool!"

He chuckled. '"I had a feeling that would make you smile," he said as he turned away. "Well yeah, I have to admit, they both were special. Able to use the Keyblade and defeat Heartless. Good times…"

I gazed at his soft demeanor and felt rather happy for him, how this conversation sparked into a nostalgic daze within our minds, which made us both seem bright. I could tell Axel was having a contended moment in silence, so I stayed quiet, while letting go of faint titters at the same time. Axel then spoke suddenly.

"You know, the stronger your friendship is, the stronger your heart?"

"Yeah, I've heard of that."

"And you know it's true?"

"Well, it has to be," I replied, remembering a phrase from back home, 'That it's better to be two than one.' After that, a few moments passed in pleasing silence of watching the sun and the light touch of the wind. Since it got so quiet, I decided to talk about something else.

"Um, how can you like sit at the edge like that," he turned and I continued, "I mean, you're not afraid that you would fall?"

"Ha-yeah right, like I would be afraid…speaking of which…" He got up off the ledge and walked past me on my right and picked up something that sat beside me; it was black and shabby.

_My bag…_

He stuck his hand in it and started to pull something out.

"Hey! What are you-" I said as I started to get up and wrench it out of his hand. I missed as he pulled away, for his height was so much that I could bare. I didn't realize I was standing up, so I stood up against the building.

"Relax doll face…" he said as he held out a black piece of clothing. "I got you something special." He dropped my bag on the ground and extended the structure of the clothing by holding it out in front of me with both of his hands. "It's a black cloak like mine," he lowered it to show his face above, "what chu think?"

I couldn't help but smile and reach out for it to grab with examination. I took it out of his hand and put it up against my body to see if it could fit. "Cool Axel! Thanks! It even looks like it could fit!"

"Yeah, yeah don't mention it," he said as he waved his hand in the air with modesty, "just try it on already. I spent a while looking for one of those while you were sleep, and now that I remember, I want to see if you can fit it or not." I nodded and unzipped the cloak to put on, while making sure I didn't fall off the tower at the same time. Once it was on, I looked down at myself, wondering how it looked on me. "How does it look on me Axel?" I looked up, waiting for an answer.

His eyes were in full examination and after a few moments, his face changed to that of a little kid with big eyes, which was very strange. " Axel? What is it? You're freaking me out here just answer the question." He scratched his head, eyes wandering towards the sky as if to avoid my gaze. "Uhmm, well you…look fine…never better in fact," he said, his back now facing me. My arms crossed, observing his strange behavior. "Okay…thanks." _Gee what a puzzle that guy is…_

"Well, I think it's about time we start going now, don't you think?"

"Mmmm yeah, the nap was nice while it lasted, though it did take up a lot of our time…"I said with a yawn

"Hey there's nothing wrong with naps. It gives you more energy for the day and to do more things. Don't feel so bad about it we got a lot of time," he said peeking at me. Axel then waved his hand and up came a portal on the side of us on my right. "Let's go," he said as he started to walk towards the portal. My eyebrows curved, my feet quickly hurrying up behind him.

_I should get close to him in case the portal shuts off when he enters…but can that happen?_ With that doubtful thought in mind, I stayed close to enter into the dark portal, grabbing my bag as well.

* * *

We finally exited the dark tunnel and found ourselves just at the bottom of the clock tower. I looked up to see how tall it was; its giant structure seemed to have ruled out all the buildings of the entire town all together from my stand point. "Okay, first things first," Axel began as he snapped me out of my gaze, "we have to get started by asking the people of this town do they know your sister."

"Right."

"So, what is your sister's name? What does she look like?" I brought my finger to my chin. "Well, her name is Kris. Her hair is dark brown and was straight the last time I've seen her and she has brown skin like mine."

"Okay, but wait- we have just a few problems."

"Huh? What's the problem?" He crossed his arms. "Well, y'know when you turn into a 'nobody', your appearance changes as well, so she'll probably not look the same." I moaned. "That's just great…"

"But, her name probably didn't, so we'll just go with that." I looked at him and changed my lips into a grin. "Okay, we'll just try that."

After our little planning, we started off into the town with a spring in our step, finally ready to start searching. We went to the area Axel called Market Street, that seemed to stretch through out the whole town with shops. We were in this area for most of the day, asking people have they ever heard of my sister's name or if they've seen a girl who favored me. None of them complied with a good enough answer. Soon, we decided to just look around the town; in alleys, by trains and even a few houses. Nothing turned up our faces. When we decided to take a break, we went to sit on the same bench where we sat the first time we got here.

"Ugh, it's about time I sat down" I groaned as my body sat on the wooden cold bench. "Yeah, but we'll only sit here for a little while though," Axel replied. I leaned my head back and put the back of my hand on my head, liking the feeling of weightless pressure off my feet. My eyes closed as I soon felt myself feeling at rest, like I was all alone in the world. The wind blew, the sound of laughter of children coming from the left of me, so I opened my eye to quick a peep. Two boys, one muscular and one chubby and a girl was running in the winds direction with there arms out straight like they were trying to catch something.

"Get the ball Hayner!" the brown haired girl cried, the sides of her hair flying back as she ran. "I'm getting it! Come on Pence, run faster!" said the blond haired boy named Hayner. "Wait up! Olette and Hayner!" cried the chubby boy named Pence as he ran after them. I heard Axel mumble something under his breath. Wondering what he said, I turned and decided to ask.

"What? Did you say something?"

Axel faced me and shrugged. "Oh, it's nothing, just thinking of something."

"Oh okay…Axel I was sorta' wondering," I said with my eyes downcast, not wanting to hear a bad answer from Axel's mouth of what I was about to ask. "If we can't find her here, do you think she's at another world, or something?" I looked up and he looked at me with his lips pursed, appearing uncertain.

"Well, I don't know what to say," he paused, scratching his head, "It's either that or the other way around." I gave out a sigh, feeling anxiousness come up in me.

"But hey, don't let yourself get down. She could be at another world. Every cloud has a silver lining. If you really knew your sister, you would probably know how strong her heart could have been or is." I looked up at him and turned ahead, just thinking of his brief comment. 

_Hmmm, I knew my sister really well, and I know she must have had a really strong heart. Of course, I would know_. I turned back to give him a grin. "Yeah, she did have a strong heart. Y'know for a 'nobody', you're pretty engaging in optimism."

His face turned a little hard like he seemed surprised for some reason. "Uh…thanks... but I'm not that optimistic."

"Hmm?"

He continued while his face turned pink. "But that's what friends do," he turned to look ahead from my curious gaze. "They make each other feel better…or whatever."

I just stared at him, feeling myself smile from his peculiar display. _Oh snap did I just make Axel blush just because I complimented a trait of his?_

I then giggled and leaned forward to see Axel's face. It was almost crimson like a red lollipop, which made me titter even more. Obviously, he was trying to ignore me by looking away in the opposite direction, so I decided to leave him alone. "Yeah… thanks a lot," I said looking away, encouraged in finding my sister.

After a few moments of silence, a yell disrupted the peace.

"Hey!"

_Huh?_

Hearing the yell come from my left, I turned in that direction. My eyes landed upon a girl who stood near a shop door across the bricked road feet's away from me. She started running up to me with a small smile and her eyes squinted low. A feeling of uncertainty came up, wondering did I know her.

"Deonna you know her?" Axel asked as I felt him lean off the bench. I shrugged and she finally made up to the bench. I noticed her hair was uneven on both sides with the color of a dark blue. She had on a yellow shirt that seemed tattered at the ends and brown caprice with two belts hardly tight in the loops. She looked rather familiar.

"Deonna? Is that you?" said the girl, her hands clasped together appearing patiently chaste. She gave me a wayward smile, a smile that I've only seen years ago from my best friend.

"Uh…J-Jian?"

Her eyes were sad, trying to drip a drop of tears as she bent down to embraced me into a hug.

"Long time no see friend."


	7. R & R

**This scene is mostly stationed in place. I had fun writing this though ^^**

_**Disclaimer: (Look in first chapter)**_

* * *

**R & R**

"Jian…?" I said as my mind boggled with the encounter of a deceased friend. Who I thought was deceased.

She spoke, her voice heavy with sad empathy. "Deonna, believe it, it's me Jian." I finally hugged back, just now getting around what was happening. She let go and took my hand, directing me to stand up with her. I stood up, but not knowing what to say to her or to ask her. I just felt too shocked for words. 'I can't believe this is happening…' My eyes gazed at her facial features, seeing what has changed in her appearance. Her hair was a dark blue color; the right side of her head was longer with hair than the left side that covered her forehead with bangs. She had dark freckles on her cheeks; green-bluish eyes with long black eyelashes over them. She was slightly taller than me. She smiled, biting her bottom lip.

"Deonna, I can't believe you're here," said Jian. "I-I can't believe you're here Jian."

'What does this mean?' Her eyebrows curved looking abject. "Deonna, did a heartless get you? Did you turn into a 'nobody'?" I shook my head. "No…but did you?" She nodded her head like she was ashamed to tell me. "Well, if you're not a 'nobody', then why…how did you get here?"

"Well, uhm, through a…uh…" 'How should I tell her…?'

"Through the corridor of darkness," Axel spoke. Stunned, I turned my head to see him standing up with one of his hands on his hip. He was half grinning and seemed de-stressed in a way. "And who are you?" Jian asked or more like demanded, putting her hand on my shoulder as she stood next to me. 'Jian is still the same…' I hesitantly decided to answer for him. I went in between them and used my hand to direct who was who. "Uh-Jian this is my friend Axel. Axel this is my friend Jian."

"Ah, I can see that. Well you heard Deonna-the name's axel. Got it memorized?" he said, pointing his finger in a gun-like fashion at Jian. "Ooookay," she began with an upturned smile, "nice to meet you Axel." I moaned a grumble and crossed my arms. "Must you always say that?" 'I'm serious. Does he just do that on purpose or something?' He brought his other hand to his hip and smirked. "Heh, you should know me by now Deonna." I shrugged with a show of apathy. "Eh…" Jian's demanding forceful hands grasped mine that made me look at her. A showy glimmer was in her eye. "Deonna come to my house and explain everything to me!"

"Yeah, sure Jian." I smiled feeling a sort of relief pass through me. "But believe me, this might take a while." Her shoulders shook with a small chuckle. "Please, I'm 'all' ears."

We walked our way to Jian's house; it was stationed at the bottom of town where the sun's radiance shone brilliantly over the many houses. A lot of the houses looked small, including hers. I wondered why that was. Her house was bricked together with the exception of a brown-based color. A red roof topped the house as a little chimney jut out the top. There were also a few windowpanes where you could see through. We pressed onto the hard stoned path up to woodened door. Jian opened the door with a key that she took out from one of her pockets. "Well, were here!" Jian exclaimed.

I went in behind Jian with Axel behind me. As soon as I went in, my eyes laid upon a staircase that lined the east wall upward where light could be seen at the end. I walked in further and find myself in a living room; a red couch was on the right side of the wall and a television was opposite of it. The floor was spread out with a green textured carpet that stopped at what appeared to be another room on the left at the far end. Framed pictures that seemed drawn hung on the white wall giving the room a family feeling to it. My feet strode over to the couch and sat my butt on the soft cushions. A moan of content came out, finally feeling at rest yet again, but this time in a special comfortable way; my eyes felt heavy. Jian came over to me from my left and placed her hands on her hips with a bleak smile. "Man Deonna, you look beat." I huffed a laugh. "Not hard to notice huh?"

Axel then came over to us. "I'm surprised. From all those naps you've been taking you should be like an energized bunny," Axel said with those annoying grins of his. "Be quiet Axel." Jian sat down beside me and started to caress my hair. "Well, make yourself at home girl, alright?" My head buried itself into a pillow cushion that lay beside me. "Thanks." Axel spoke. "What about me huh?"

"Oh, you can to, but don't get too comfortable. Deonna's an exception." I brought my head up and groaned. "Jian be nice." She just shrugged. "So much for showing some hospitality," Axel said sounding nonchalant, yet his brows arched with mild contempt. 'Mmm does she have a bathroom in this place?'

"Jian can I use your bathroom?" She looked at me. "Yeah sure, just go in the kitchen," she pointed pass me where the kitchen was, "and you'll see a hallway. On the left there's the bathroom."

"'Kay." I got up, leaving the luxury couch behind and started to feel my muscles ache. "Hey Deonna…" Axel began, "let me go use it first!" I stopped at the doorframe that led to the kitchen. "Uh, no just wait, I'll be quick." He walked over to me. "But I've been holding it for quite some time. I'll be quicker." I spoke my thought. "You've been holding your pee?" I said aloud, "why couldn't you just go behind a tree like most guys do?" His eyes narrowed at me and his cheeks flushed momentarily. "Just let me go first." I ignored his request and went straight into the kitchen. "No!" He ran up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder, trying to slow me down. "Na uh, guys are quicker. That's just by nature. I'll go first."

"Girls go first!" I pushed his hand off and ran to the door in the hallway. My hand grasped the knob to turn it but weight pushed me aside on my left. Axel gave me a victory smile and entered the bathroom. I stomped my foot in defeat. "No fair you cheater!"

"Told ya' guys are quicker. Take a chill pill! It's not that serious!" I slid my backpack off my shoulder to hold it in my hand. My back started to ache to. 'Why is my body aching like this?' I leaned against the wall, catching my breath from the retarded race me and Axel took. "Axel, why do you annoy me so much?" The toilet flushed and he spoke. "I don't annoy you Deonna-you're just don't know how to take a joke."

'Is he serious?' He soon opened the door and came out, smirking at me. "Y'know what they say, respect your elders," he said patting my head. I moved his hand and smiled half-heartedly. "So does this mean your calling yourself old?" He gave me a leer and waved his hand. "Pttf, yeah right." I stuck my tongue out at him as he went into the kitchen. I then entered the bathroom.

When done with the bathroom, I went back into the living room. Jian was sitting on the coach and Axel was standing up on the other side of the couch beside the arm with his arms crossed looking down. "Jian do you have a pain pill or something?" I asked, breaking the silence. Jian rose, putting her finger on her lip in thought. "No, I don't have any pain pills, sorry. What's wrong?" Axel then looked up with curiosity. I put my hand on my hip and arched back a little trying to stretch out some pain. "Mmm, my muscles hurt."

"Oh, they do? Maybe I should make you a bath?" Jian asked in concern.

"Yeah…that would be cool." I went to the couch and sat on the soft cushions again, where Axel was standing right beside me. "Hmmm…must be from moving around and about all this time," Axel said. Jian sat back down and put her hands together. "Around and about?" Jian asked. "Yeah-from the fighting earlier, walking arou-"

"Fighting?" Jian interrupted with shock. I looked at her as my eyebrows curved up slightly. "Ah yeah…a little fighting..."

"You guys fought?" I opened my mouth to answer, but Axel all ready replied. "Yeah we fought- just a little friendly competition."

"Friendly competition?" She turned to look at me and back at Axel. Her brows furrowed. "I don't know-maybe you hurt her."

"I didn't try too much," he waved his hand; "I was just testing her fighting skills, since she seemed so fighting worthy." He looked down on me and smiled. "It was a pretty good fight though." I grinned back. He then patted my head. 'Why does he keep petting my head now all of a sudden?' I wasn't annoyed when he did that so I just let it pass this time. I turned to look at Jian who showed a sudden grin on her face with her arms crossed. "So who won?" Before Axel could speak, I answered quickly. "It was a tie!"

"Yeah it sorta' was," Axel continued, "except that we stopped and couldn't finish." Axel looked down at me again. "If we continued, I could've won," he said in a cocky way. "Hmph, just 'cause you had a little fire and a few Frisbees doesn't mean you coulda' won."

"Fire and Frisbees?" Jian exclaimed, yet a second time, knocking us out of surprise. A sheepish grin came upon my face. "Ah yeah…I'll tell you about that later."

"Hmmhmm," Jian grunted in suspicion and a small glare. "Deonna…" Axel spoke. "Hmm?" I looked up at him to see his hand above mine with a container in his hand. Out came a sparkling green mist enveloping around my face and my body. My head dropped trying to shield my eyes from the unusual substance. "Axel! What are you doing?" My arms waved the stuff out in front of me and around me. "Axel! What the hell?" I heard Jian yell. Axel spoke with brazenness, unaffected from our angry outburst. "Jeez relax ladies, don't bug out. It's not as bad as you'll might think." When the mist subdued, I scanned my clothes and felt my hair, trying to see was there any thing green on me. My eyes looked at my hand and saw nothing sticking to it. I looked at Axel and scratched my head, feeling uncertain. "What did you to me?"

"Heh, what did I do? I gave you an energy boost."

"Energy boost?" He came around the arm and stood in front of me. "It's a health potion. It's supposed to make you feel better." 'Health potion?' He put his hand on the arm of the couch and leaned on it. "How do you feel now?" he asked with a smirk. "Mmmm…" I didn't realize at first but my body did feel a little bit different…less stressed. "I-I guess I do feel a bit different."

"Different as in good?" Axel asked tauntingly. I groaned and cocked my head. "Yeah…" Jian smiled. "Good!" Jian began, "you're feeling better now! Do you still want me to make you a bath?" I looked at her and smiled, my eyes feeling weighed down. "Yes, please?"

"Okay then." She stood up and walked over to the staircase by the door. She put her hand on the woodened rail and looked back. "When I'm done running your water, I want you to tell me everything about how and why you are here 'kay?" I complied with a nod and she went up the stairs.

* * *

As soon as the 'thud' sound from her feet became faint, Axel plumped down on the sofa next to me, making the cushions expand with pressure. His hands went over his spiky head behind his back. He gave a contented relaxing sigh and looked at me, his eyes fixed in a determined ease. "I'm hungry." I huff a laugh and sat back. "I didn't realize, but I'm hungry to." "That makes us both in the same boat…" he paused, "Deonna…"

"Huh?" I looked at him to see him with his brows curved, like he wanted to ask me something. "Can you ask Jian if she have any food we can eat?"

"Yeah, sure I will-but I'm surprised you're not all up in her fridge like you were in mine before." He moved his hands in front of himself. "Na uh, I'd rather not push her buttons."

"Well how come you do that to me?"

"You're an exception."

My eyes slanted at him. 'Why am I the one who's an exception again?'

"C'mon she doesn't bite," I sat up, "she just needs to get used to you, that's just how she is." He groaned and sat back. I looked pass him to look at the entrance to the kitchen. 'Maybe I should just go to see what's in her fridge…' With that thought in mind, I got up and walked to the kitchen. When I entered, I couldn't help but notice a little table in the center with two chairs seated across from each other. The room had a mixed color of orange and brown painted on the walls. Counters lined the west wall with a little sink installed and a black microwave above it. The fridge was beside the sink. I took off my cloak and sat it on one of the chairs. I walked to it and opened it the fridge. "Let's see, what's in here that I could munch on…"

I saw mayonnaise, ham, orange juice, apple juice, a bag of grapes, bread, and other treasury food that I could eat. I even saw a piece of chicken leg in a plastic container in the corner. 'Axel probably would want that…' My mouth watered. I started to feel that someone was over me from behind since the flow of air changed. "See anything that I would like?" I turned and saw Axel, waiting for me to respond. "Uh yeah, probably," I reached to grab the container that held the chicken, "want this?" I held it in front of him. He smiled a twinkle in his eye. "Y'know I do. A man gotta' have his meat!"

"Yeah, you sure do because you're so skinny." I squeezed his arm trying to see did he have any muscle, mortifying him. "Hey stop that!" He snatched his arm away and rubbed his arm. "Ha ha ha ha!" I cracked up at his sensitivity. "I'm not skinny! I'm just…" he paused, not knowing how to answer for himself. I covered my mouth, feeling embarrassed from laughing. "What are you then?"

"I'm tall and lean, that's all!" I waved my hand in front of him. "Okay, okay you don't have to get all bent out of shape." He placed his hands on his hips in fist; he shook his head. "Girls are so complicated." A menacing grin came upon my face as I furrowed my brows. "Hmph! Now I'm not going to let you have this chicken. I'm going to tell Jian not to give it to you!" He leaned a bit forward with his arm bent out in front of him. His brows arched. "You wouldn't." I grinned playfully and put the chicken in the fridge and replaced it with the bag of grapes. "Deonna you-" Jian entered the kitchen interrupting Axel's irritated assault. "Hey guys! What you all doing?" We turned to look at her. I grinned and spoke. "Oh, we were just hungry that's all."

"Oh you're hungry? Want me to make something for you Deonna?" I popped a cold grape into my mouth and replied. "Yeah…maybe a sandwich would be nice."

"Alright."

As Jian came over to me, I decided to ask her another question. "And can Axel have this piece of chicken?" My hand searched for the contained and took it out the fridge for her to see. Her eyebrows curved in thought for a moment. I looked at Axel, who had a hungry anxious expression on his face. A giggle came up, but I surpassed it. "Yeah, he can have it," she turned to look at Axel, "want me to make you a sandwich to?" Surprised, he grinned. "Yeah, thanks." She turned to look at me. "Okay, you guys go in the other room while I make the sandwiches." She took the container out of my hand and put it in the microwave. "Do you want me to help you Jian," I asked. She waved her hand in opposition. "No, no, just relax, go in the other room," she said, shoving Axel and me out of the kitchen. She winked at me and started preparing the food. Axel was beside me so I nudged him in the side with a grin. "Told you she wasn't evil." He looked down at me, slightly annoyed. "I didn't say she was evil," he walked to the couch and sat on it, "I know evil, that's not evil." I popped another grape in my mouth and bit into it. "Then what is evil?" I walked to the couch and sat beside him, the flavor of the sweet grape resting on my tongue. A dull look appeared on his face. "Evil is a girl with blonde hair and two strands of hair coming out of her hair like an ant and a mouth sharper than a knife and-"

"What?" I said cutting him off. He sighed and waved his hand. "Nothing." He then grabbed a grape out of the bag and popped it into his mouth.

After a few moments passed, Jian came out with our sandwiches in two foam plates. "Here ya go," she chirped. We both reached for our plates. "Thanks," Axel and I said. "No problem." Jian said, "I'll be right back." She went to the staircase and went up stairs. 'Probably forgot about my bath…' I looked at Axel's plate and mine; he had the piece of chicken on the side of his sandwich that steamed the seasonal smoke off of itself. He dug into that first, as excepted. I reached and put some grapes on my plate to make it appear like there was more food on my plate like Axel's. I started eating my food and my stomach began to fill up fast, even though it wasn't a lot of food on my plate. "Okay guys!" Jian said, coming down from the stairs. I looked up to see her; she went into the kitchen and dragged a chair out and sat it in front of us. Axel didn't look up once, for he was too engrossed in his eating frenzy. She smiled at us, looking happy and excited about something. "Tell me about it already!" Axel finally looked up, his mouth shiny from the chicken; he didn't seem to care about what she was about to say and started to eat the sandwich. "How did you all get here?" He stopped munching and looked up. My eyes widened. 'Great…' I didn't really feel like explaining the whole situation to her, but of course I had to. "Oh great, here comes the whole nine yards…" Axel said. I narrowed my eyes at him and turned back to Jian, who had her knees crossed and her hands together placed on top. With her smile up like that, I could tell she was getting more anxious. I sighed; I started first. "Okay this is how it happened…"

* * *

"So let me get this straight…" By then, the chair Jian was sitting in was leaning up against the wall opposite of us. She was pacing back and forth with her finger to her chin contemplating what we just said to her. She stopped walking and stood in front of us, her brows curved in bewilderment.

"Axel was stalking you and following you to your house. Axel went inside of your house and you both soon formed a partnership with each other to get his heart back and to find your sister. You both decide to leave in two days and right before you all started out, you both get into a fight, or should I say a friendly competition. A keyblade falls on your head during the fight and you soon wake up. After that, you both come to twilight town using a dark thing and eat sea-salt ice cream. Heartless appear on the street and before you all could do anything you pass out. Axel takes you on the clock tower and waits for you to wake up, which you soon do. You all then start looking for Dawn and after hours of searching I find you two sitting a bench tired out," Jian finished.

Axel and me looked at each other and looked back at Jian. "That's about right," I agreed. Axel spoke. "I'm not a stalker." Jian waved her hand with smoothness and her eyes relaxed. "Sure you're not." I heard him huff. Jian got the chair and sat it in front of us to sit down on it. Her hands were on her knees and her shoulders were up like she was stiff, but her eyes didn't go with the way she appeared; they glinted joy rather than glumness. "That's awesome!" she yelled leaning forward, making me jump. 'I had a feeling she would react this way when I told her that I was on an adventure to search worlds.' She pressed her feet together, biting her lip. "Just if Arata was here to hear what you just said." My eyebrows contorted at the hearing of that name. "Arata? He's here?" She nodded, half grinning. "I wanted to surprise you with his presence, but I just had to tell you he was here. I can't wait to see his expression when he sees you."

"Who's Arata?" Axel asked, jumping into the conversation. I turned to him as Jian gave him the answer. "He's my big brother."

"Oh, I see…" he said, rather in a glum way. My eyes glared at him wondering why he said it that way. "Deonna, you should go and take your bath or else the water would get cold," Jian said, breaking me out of my glare. I looked at her. "Oh, right…" My hand grabbed my backpack that sat next the plate that I ate off of. I stood up and went to the staircase to go up the stairs. "If you need soap, it's right on the sink and there's a white towel to clean yourself if you need one and a drying towel on the sink to!" Jian yelled. "'Kay!" There was a little hallway that stretched all the way down to a door that was closed. There was a door that was wide open on the right side of the wall, so I went inside knowing probably it was the bathroom. My suspicions were correct as I could see steaming water evaporate all the way up to the ceiling from the tub below it. The sink was white with a bar of soap and a white wash-up towel right next to it and a drying towel on the other side, just like Jian said. I placed my bag on the toilet seat that was by the door and started to strip. I soon got in the tub, the hot water making my skin tingle with just one touch of my toe. My body felt so good that it leaned itself back into the water. 'Just want my muscles needed…' It felt so good that I could fall asleep in it, as my eyes felt heavy.

After about ten minutes of relaxing, I started to wash my hair and my body with my own wash-up towel that I brought along with me. After a couple more minutes of cleaning, I unplugged the thing in the tub and stepped out, drying myself from the water. After that, I did what I always did when I got out of the tub; apply myself with body butter, brush my hair, clean my face. I even decided to brush my teeth since it felt like a day has already passed. I soon got dressed and stepped out of the hot bathroom, feeling clean as a whistle, with the smell of grape-pomegranate on my skin. My hair was still dripping water from the bath as it slid down my neck, making me rub it minute after minute.

With bag in hand, I went down the stairs, but stopped at the end to see Axel with his head back and eyes closed asleep on the couch. A smile came upon my face from seeing that scene. 'Awww how cute is that…Axel is sweepy…' Wondering where Jian was, I strode pass him to enter the kitchen. "You smell nice…" Startled by the sudden low voice, I turned to see Axel, his eyes relaxed on me. I couldn't help but smile shyly at his comment and turned back. "Thanks…" My hands put themselves behind my back as I walked into the kitchen.

Jian was sitting down at one of the chairs drinking something from a cup with her head hanging low. I went to sit at the other chair across from her. I put my hand under my chin to rest it on, looking at her so that she would acknowledge my presence. "Cute…" Jian mumbled. "Huh?" I asked. She looked up at me finally, a lecherous smile on her face. "Axel- he's kinda cute is he?" My eyes felt big as I felt the emphasis of my heartbeat; my cheeks somewhat flushed. "Y'know I don't like talking about that sorta' stuff…" She waved her hand. "Yeah I know, but you still gotta admit it, those tattoos are killer."

"Jian be quiet."

"Oh come on, I know you think so to, besides," she said, trying to sound suspenseful, "I know you dig tall guys."

"Jian because he's tall doesn't mean I like him."

"But I know you think he's cute," she chimed, giving me a wink. I started to feel even more embarrassed as I put my hands over my head. "Jian I just met him like a few days ago. I can't just come to like him in such a short period time." Jian put her head in the palm of her hand, her eyes rested on mine. "Just say it."

"Say what?"

"Say that you think he's cute and that you like him." I groaned and crossed my arms. 'Why me…?' I got up from the chair and went and saw that he was sleep on the couch. I went back and sat back down. "Yeah, he is kinda' cute."

"And?"

"I'm not going to say that I like him because I don't!" I said trying to whisper low enough so that Axel would not wake up. She tittered. "Man you play hard to get."

"Um, ladies, I thought I heard my name in there!" Axel yelled. My head turned toward the doorframe. 'Oh shoot…!'

"Axel go back to sleep!" I hollered back. 'Man I hope he wasn't listening. Was he even sleeping in the first place!'

"I wonder how old he is…" Jian said in wonder. I gave her a dull look. "Go figure." My ears soon heard the front door open that came with a boisterous horrifying yell. "Jian! Come outside!" someone yelled. "Arata?" Jian yelled as she ran out the kitchen.

"Arata?" I said as I ran after her. 'Did something happen?' When I went out I saw Axel standing at the front door. He turned back and saw me. He looked anxiously upset. "Deonna come look at this." My feet gave way, as I was soon standing right beside him. My eyes uncovered to see little black creatures on the ground in front of the house, while some flying creatures were in the air, shooting bolts out of its head with an antenna. "Heartless…" Axel and I chanted. "I hope you don't pass out again…'cause now it's time to get our hands dirty." He looked at me and smirked. I looked up at him and grinned. "I'm sure I won't this time." I gulped. 'I hope not…'

"Deonna?" I looked away from Axel and saw Arata looking at me dazed with confusion. "Deonna is that you?" I scratched my head, grinning sheepishly. "Uh yeah…I um-" Axel shook my shoulder. "Deonna you can talk later. We got to fight right now!" He went ahead looking at me like he wanted me to follow him. He turned ahead and then summoned his circular weapons with his hands a flamed. His feet ran up to the heartless, striking them down with his weapon. I looked down at my hand and tried to call my keyblade. 'Please work…' A light of sparkles came up in my hand; up came a keyblade that seemed unused for some time. "Yes!" Feeling motivated, my feet ran up behind Axel and started killing the black creatures.

* * *

"Well, that does it," Axel turned to look at me with a pleasurable smile, his hands grasping his disk in hand, "good work Deonna." Inhaling and exhaling, I held myself on my knees and I complied with a grin. "T-thanks." The feet of Jian and Arata came up to us from the porch, there faces looking at us in amazement and wonder. "Deonna and Axel that was tight!" Jian exclaimed, hugging me, or more like squeezing me to a pulp. "Yeah…Deonna that was amazing…" Arata said who still looked too shocked to see me. My heavy breathing stopped as Jian let me go but soon enough another person took her place. "Oh Deonna. It's nice to see your face again…" Arata said, hugging me with more gentleness than Jian. I smiled and hugged him back. "Yeah…"

"Ahem…" Axel cleared his throat trying to get our attention. We split and looked at Axel who had his hands on his hips; his weapons were gone. "Who's this?" Arata asked. I was about to reply but then Axel took the lead. "The name's Axel. Commit it to memory." Arata chuckled slightly while I surpassed a sheepish laugh. 'Whoa-never heard that one before.'

"Well, the names Arata." He looked at me and than at Axel. "Are you Deonna's friend?"

"Yeah, it seems like it doesn't it? Were actually together traveling different worlds, searching for our possessions," Axel said like he was leader of our expedition. "Whoa-that's cool," Arata said as he turned to look at me, "and you get to use a keyblade Deonna." I nodded. "Awesome right!" I said in enthusiasm. I took a minute to observe his physique; His was hair was black like before but his bangs were on the other side of his head. His eyes were grey and blue-ish but his height was the same like before, so he was still taller than me. He wore a plaid shirt with a white t-shirt underneath and baggy jeans that fell over his white and black converses.

"So how did you get here?" Arata asked, snapping me out of my gaze. A smile turned into a slight frown. 'Great…'

"Uh, Deonna I think it's about time we get going now," Axel said as he waked up to us on my left, "the more we stay in one place, the more ground we are likely to miss." He put his hand on my shoulder and I looked up at him. Arata moaned. I looked back at him; his brows were curved with a sullen look. "Yeah maybe it is time that you two get going," Jian said who stood on the right side of me, placing her hand on both me and Arata's shoulder. "Aw man that's just great," Arata complained, "just if here I was here sooner…"

"Where were you anyway?" I asked. "Job…"

'Oh…'

"Arata, I'll be back to visit, I promise," I hugged him again and let go with a grin, "in the mean time, Jian can tell you everything that I told her earlier."

"Yeah Arata, I'll tell you." He looked at her and back at me. "Okay fine…" I giggled. "There's nothing to worry about…" I started to run up to the porch. "I'll be right back!" My feet ran to get my cloak that was still seated on the chair in the kitchen and my backpack that was on the floor. I dashed back outside in an energetic manner to stop in front of them. I put my cloak on and put my bag on my back ready to go. Axel grinned. "You finally ready slow-poke?" I gave him a black look. "I'm not a slow-poke and yes I'm ready." I noticed Arata looked at Axel with a small glare. 'I wonder did Axel notice…' Axel waved his hand in the air. As expected, a black portal came up on the side of us. Arata jolted in surprise. "Whoa, the hell…?" Jian yelped as she went in-between Axel and me. "Ah ha ha ha ha!" I erupted into laughter while Axel chuckled to himself. "Very funny guys," Jian said with dullness. I finally stopped laughing and saw Axel looking at me with a grin. "Okay let's go Deonna."

"Okay." Before I started going forward I saw Arata looking at me with sadness; he didn't want me to go. I grinned half-heartedly and took a step to hug him. "Deonna…" he said as he hugged back, touching my neck with his hand. "I'll be back Arata. I promise, I know how much you miss me…" I leaned back off of him. He looked at me, his grey-blue eyes with a dull sparkle. He moved close to the side and kissed my cheek. "You better. I'll be waiting." I smiled feeling my face somewhat flush and let him go, going to where Axel stood in front of the portal. I waved my hand at them while Axel did the same. "Bye guys, we'll see yea soon!" I yelled. "Bye Jian, Arata!" Axel yelled. "Bye Deonna and Axel. Axel take care of Deonna here?" "Yeah I know!" I looked up at him with my brows contorted. "What's that's suppose to mean?"

"Bye Deonna!" Arata yelled. "Bye!" Axel and I then stepped into the dark portal. As the darkness took over us, I began to wonder. 'I wonder where we are going now…'

* * *

**Author Note: **

**Guess where Deonna and Axel is going now? I'll give you a hint: _A place where there is a lot of fighting (Guess right you get a cookie :3)_**

**What was Deonna and Arata's relationship? Find out in the next chapter**

**_Hope you enjoyed ^^_**


	8. A Fighting Chance

**Hello Readers ^^ if I do have any...okay I know I do ^^**

**I'm sorry for not updating last week. I wasn't really able to because I was really busy doing things T-T**

**But, at least It's up now...a week later ^^; And whoever guessed what the world was, you're right, it's Olympus Coliseum! *Hands you cookie* :3**

**I hope you like it ^^**

_**Disclaimer: (Look in first chapter)**_

* * *

**A Fighting Chance**

Two gigantic soldiers of gold glinted in the sunlight, their swords crossing each other with that of a warrior. They were in front of a massive building that had columns structured upright in the center that lead to an entrance, where the soldiers' sword touched above. The ground was sandy and as I breathed I could taste the dry air that filled my lungs. I looked up at Axel who stood beside me whose eyes were filled with a hard determination of some sort.

"Where are we now?" He didn't look at me, but just stared ahead. "Olympus Coliseum-that's where we're at," he looked down at me and grinned, "a nice change of scenery huh?" I moaned and looked at the white building, which seemed interestingly intimidating.

"Mmmm do we go in or do we just stay out here gawking at it in this dust bowl?" I asked. He took a step ahead of my position and turned to look at me, his eyes relaxed. "Of course we go in. I was just thinking of something, besides," he paused, "if you're so eager how about you go first?"

My eyebrows contorted as my arms crossed giving out a huff of annoyance. "Fine, I will then." My feet walked pass him, my arms going back and forth in fists.

'Hmmm…I wonder what does going to a building have to do with finding my sister…' When my foot touched the third concrete step that led up to the gigantic door, I turned waiting for Axel to make it up to me; he was just now making it to the sloped staircase. "Axel, what kind of building is this?" He stepped up to me, finally reaching my stance and put his hands on his hips in fists. He brought his head up to look above at the statues and stood that way for a moment.

"Take a wild guess," he began, looking down on me, "two statues depicting warriors, their swords clashing together in war, armor that works as guards on their bodies…" He leaned towards me slightly with a smirk of entertainment, "really Deonna?" My eyebrows arched as I waved my hand in his face to make space between us.

"Okay, okay jeez-you don't have to make me sound like a fool." My ears heard him muffle a chuckle as I went ahead up to the final steps of the wide staircase to open the wide door.

I stepped into the building while holding the door open for Axel to come in behind me. The inside of the building wasn't what I expected it to be. The room was sort of small but it seemed it would've been able to hold at least twenty people in it. The walls were brown with ancient Greek designs which gave the walls a creative streak. There were two dents on either side of the room where ignited candle bowels occupied them, making the trophies on their sides seem dull.

My eyes spotted a little man with goat like legs attached to his upper body that resembled a man; the man was dusting with a little broom in the corner of the room on the far left of us, totally oblivious to our presence. My eyes widened at the sight of it. Axel was on my right so I gave him a little nudge out of bewilderment of the tiny creature.

"Axel, what is that thing?" He looked down at me and spoke. "It's a creature, half human-half goat, called a 'Satyr'. Don't worry, he don't bite," he said with a grin. He looked back up. "Just beware if his ol' grumpiness."

"Uh huh," I nodded. Our voices carried on in the room, finally making the creature acknowledge our occurrence with a slow turn. I could feel my face grimace as the creature came coming up to us on his little goat feet with his broom in hand. He looked mad and grumpy, like he was having an unhappy marriage or something.

"And who are you?" the little man demandingly said, finally stopping in front of us with his eyebrows stitched. I at last had a good look at him; he had little horns on his head that arched back and a bald spot of red hair that ran back like a tire went over it. He was chubby and short, probably the size of a fat toddler and had the color of red for his button nose, his goatee and for his furry goat legs.

"Uh I'm-" I began, but was soon cut off by Axel who took a step up. He started with a smooth introduction with his hand directing who was who. "I'm Axel and this is Deonna. Commit it to memory." The goat creature crossed his chubby arms with the broomstick sticking out, looking at us with a face of consent. "Oh, alright Axel and Deonna, but you guys can't be here!" He then started to point his finger at us like he was peeved. "Olympus Coliseum is for heroes only, HEROES, where they fight ferocious monsters in a huge arena. Sorry but you guys got to beat it!"

I felt myself give a leer at his churlish mannerism. 'Man, not only is he a fat goat-man, but a mean ol' fat-goat man!' Axel then started to make hand gestures as he spoke in reply. "But that's just the thing!" He went up behind me, resting his hands on my shoulders with a firm grasp. I turned up slightly wondering what he was about to do. "Deonna, here wants to be a hero." My eyes widened at his comment as my eyebrows contorted with confusion.

"Axel, what are you-"

"Her! A hero?" a loud boisterous voiced commenced. My head turned to see the little goat go into a laughing fit from hearing that I wanted to be a hero. "Ha ha ha ha ha!" My eyebrows turned into sharp daggers from his scoffing. Retaliation got the better of me as I retorted. "Hey what's so funny about that!" He wiped his head of sweat from the tiredness of laughing and stood upright to walk to the left side of the room in huffs of air.

"Sorry girly, but I can't let you enter the fighting arena. I wouldn't want blood guilt on my hands of a little teenage girl like yourself." He placed the broom against the wall and began walking up to us, his hoofs sounding of a walking horse. A feeling of pique started to rise inside me as my fist tightened, which started to feel warm. I soon had a change of heart; all of this talk about being a hero and fighting in an arena with monsters made me want to prove myself oh so dearly. 'Stay cool Deonna…stay cool…' I leaned back taking a breath of composure to ease myself and looked back down at the goat man. A stern calmness tried to show itself in my visage as I spoke my highpoints.

"I am not a little girl, I am a hero and I've fought lots of monsters," I then crossed my arms, "those monsters were heartless and I defeated them with my keyblade." The goat man then crossed his arms, which seemed to have rested on his big potbelly. "Huh- that's interesting to know…" Axel then finally spoke up as he came beside me.

"Yeah, you should totally see her in action," he pointed his finger at the goat man, "what you see is what you get. Oh come on give her a chance." The goat man stood there on his tiny little hoofs for a few moments with an expression of thought, moaning 'hmmmms.' He finally spoke.

"I've known a few keyblade wielders in my time and they've always turned out to be pretty good fighters, though you might not look like it…" He looked up at me, his hands on his hips. "Eh-since I've got nothing else to do, I could probably see for my self what you got, that is, if you got any fight in yea." A feeling of relief passed through me as a smile spread across my lips.

"Oh please sir, I won't let you down." A slight smile vaguely came upon his thin lips as he started to walk away from us, heading for a dark tunnel that was opposite of us. "Yeah, you better girly, or I was wrong about you and your encouraging friend over there!" I nodded in content as I paralleled my arms to rise and fall in fists.

"Yes!"

Axel came in front of me with a showy gin on his face, talking as he made hand gestures with his hands. "Good, you finally convinced that hairy little man to show you some of your moves!" He placed his hand on my head, making my face inch down at the floor. I soon heard the sound of satisfactory in his smooth voice. "…Make sure you prove yourself worthy like you did me." I shook my head up and down with a smile while his hand dropped down off of me. I felt my heart feel a little strained, but it wasn't a bad feeling, for I was happy of what he thought of me; being worthy. I then began to think of what he just did to me.

'Thanks but…' My face came up to look at him, my lips showing a grin, but my eyes showing a partial glare, making him look dumbfounded.

"Why do you keep putting your hand on my head?" I said crossing my arms. His expression changed to relief as he huffed a laugh while putting his hand on his hip and scratching his head with the other.

"Oh that…I thought it was something I said," he said with a shrug. Not hearing what I wanted to hear, I gave him an obvious statement. "You know I'm not a dog." He then waved his hand in the air with opposition. "Oh, I know you're not- don't think of it as a bad thing." His left eye fluttered at me in the sign of a wink as a smile followed. My heart felt a little heavy as I could feel my cheeks feel warm, making me give him a coy smile. A chuckle escaped his lips from my blushing display. His arm waved up backward as he turned around. "Okay let's go D." I followed suit, finally stepping into the dark tunnel where the only bright light visible was at the other far end of the tunnel.

As we walked in the dark dusty corridor, I began to wonder why Axel told the goat man that I wanted to be a hero. I didn't want to wonder with dubious feelings while the answer was walking right in front of me, so I just had to ask.

"Axel, how come you told the goat man that I wanted to be a hero?" My voice produced echoes that bounced off the bricked walls. He made a little titter as he spoke but failed to turn his head. "Heh he, well don't take this personal, but I think you should have some training."

"Training?" The lowliness in my voice came with a surprised shock. "Are you kidding me, I don't need no training, I mean you know how well I fight!" My fists soon tightened out of there relaxed state. Axel slightly turned his head to look at me; though it was still dark, I was able to see his relaxed darkened face. "I just said not to take it personal didn't I? I just want you to be more experienced in defeating heartless that's all." He turned his head back around, looking at the now brightened atmosphere of the tunnel that lightened the walls in its interiors. "I am assuming that you have not dealt with that much heartless in the past…well maybe you did, but I just want you to become more aware of how different heartless fight against their enemies," he paused, "is that so much to ask?" My voice didn't utter a reply to his clever idea as I began to remember what happened at Twilight Town and how I fought.

"D-Do you mean about what happened at Twilight Town? When I fought those heartless?" He nodded. "Yup, you did defeat them, but you weren't that quite prepared to face them off. So as a result, I'm going to have the goat man thing bring heartless at you, just to make you more aware." I gave out a sullen moan.

"Ugh, alright…fine I'll play it your way." We finally stopped at end of the tunnel where I could finally see Axel's pale tattooed face in the sunlight, looking at me with a smirk where I stood on the side of him. "Oh, come on, where's the enthusiasm- I thought you wanted to prove ol' hairy guy over there!" he said directing his hand at the goat man, who stood on the far right side of us yelling at someone ahead of him. My body shook in a mild laugh from Axel's name calling. "A-Axel s-stop that or he'll hear you!" I covered my mouth in giggles while I shoved his arm. Sometimes, I feel that Axel can be so wise in my eyes, and then turn into an idiot that quickly like a popping balloon. Axel stepped ahead of me while I followed, finally admiring the beautiful scenery of the spacious arena where a clear blue sky was overhead.

"Deonna look at that," Axel told me with a nudge, making me look at the center of the arena. My eyes fell upon a man in the center of the bowl; it appeared that he was fighting some dark creatures that resembled heartless. The goat man yelled in cheers at the man, encouraging him to fight them off.

"Come on Herc show them your stuff!"

Axel then yelled at me with a forceful enthusiasm in his voice that took me by surprise. "Come on what are you waiting for?" His hands shoved me from the side to get ahead of him, making me stumble in advance to a run. "You can't make the grade just by dreaming about it! Go On!"

"Okay-okay sheesh! Stop nagging me!" I yelled back. I threw my book bag off and tossed it at Axel while pressing forward to the center with fast speed.

I summoned my keyblade to aim at a heartless that had a metal helmet on its darkened black face while its body was green with a heart symbol embellished on its chest. Its puny legs tried kicking me, but in all its aspects it failed to give me more than three blows as I finally sliced it into oblivion. As it disappeared, a heart came out of it and went up into the sky. My eyes spotted about six more running around like a nest of rats around the guy who was fighting them. The guy had a very strong muscular build who wore a brown suit that ended in a skirt at the bottom; he appeared as if he could fight a bear. One of the other heartless came at me as well as a few others, trying to pounce on me all at once. My body endured kicks from almost all sides, but that didn't stop me from me persevering until they were all eliminated from my sight and viewing the floating hearts in the sky. My eyes instinctively gazed around the arena to see were there anymore of those evil vermin; I didn't spot not a single one.

'Good…'

I sighed out of relief and stretched my back trying to ignore those repeated kicks that ached my muscles. The sun cooked me in my black cloak as I could feel sweat on my forehead. "Man it's hot." My breathing began to slow down as I heard an alarming yell. "Are you alright?" the muscular guy yelled, rushing over to me with anxiousness. I took off my cloak and held it in my arm before making a reply.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine t-thanks," I said in little pants. The guy stopped in front of me in a breathy huff, placing his hand on my shoulder out of concern. "Are you sure, you're not injured?" I looked at his tall structure, his concerned blue eyes over looking me. I gave him a pleasant smile, not wanting him to waste his worry concern on me. "Uh, yeah I'm fine, I mean a couple of kicks to the stomach ain't going to stop me," I said placing my hands on my hips in my own confidence. He nodded and smiled back taking his hand off my shoulder. "Well that's good to hear, and I can see why you were able to defeat those heartless," he pointed his finer at my right hand, "you had a keyblade." A giggle ruptured from my lips. 'Wow, I wonder how long that took him to figured that one out…'

"Yo Deonna!" a familiar voice shouted from behind, making me turn to see Axel and the goat man walking up to us. "Deonna that was pretty well done…" Axel said in satisfied keenness, finally stopping in front of me as he moved his hand with his voice. "The way those heartless all jumped on you like that, I almost thought you were a goner..." He paused to cross his arms. "I'm partly pleased for being your mentor." I gave him a quirk smile and rolled my eyes.

"Gee thanks Axel…"

The goat man came up to us at last, stopping beside Axel while his eyes were focused on me. "Well girly, I have to say you did better than what I bargained for." My eyes lit up from his praise as I clasped my hands together. "Really? So does that make me a hero?" He gave out a sign and spoke with that grumpy like voice that he had. "Listen, fighting heartless doesn't make you a hero-" I then interrupted him from his talk that I did not agree with.

"But I did save this guy here right? So technically, I did a heroic deed, which makes me a hero or since I'm a girl, a heroin." Axel's eyes widened as he whistled out of amusement. "Whoa she sure did tell you-watch out now!" He looked down at the midget, snickering at him. The goat man crossed his arms with a groan and spat as he spoke.

"Hey you watch it girly! Hercules didn't need any help to begin with!" He then came forward at my feet as he pointed his finger at me. I held back a chuckle as I looked at him. 'Is he really going to try to do something…?'

"Phil, it is pretty difficult fighting heartless without a weapon like hers, come on be nice," Hercules spoke up trying to reason with his friend. I looked up at him and back down at Phil, who seemed peeved from this situation. He crossed his arms while his head hung low to the ground like a little kid would do if he had did something bad. "Ugh…I guess you are right Herc," he then looked back up with that stoic expression on his face, "I guess you did do okay kid just like I said before-but still my definition of a hero comes in two words…" He pointed two fingers up at me and started to count them off. 'Oh great here we go again with this …'

"Strength, Guts and Heart!"

"Eh, you do know that you said more than two right?" Axel mentioned from behind him.

"Yeah thanks for brining that to my attention!" Phil yelled, turning around to look at Axel who looked at Phil confused and then turned back at me. I then admitted to what he said about being a hero. "Well, I know I got those qualities." Hercules came into the conversation. "It does seem pretty evident that you do, you must have a strong heart." I looked up at him and felt myself blush. "I guess so."

"Hercules, help me bring out the barrels will yea?" Phil started to walk away in the opposite direction. "Alright Phil," Hercules complied as he walked after him. They walked away about to bring out some barrels for some reason.

"Alright, your about to start your training," Axel said directing me to follow him back by the building. "With barrels?" I walked to the side of him waiting for his answer. "Yeah, just a little test to see will you be able to knock out all the barrels within a time limit," he said putting his hands behind his head. "Okay…that seems boring."

"Yeah, not a lot of action, but it does make you pick up your speed in a fight." My eyes dropped as I moaned, starting to feel nostalgic from this idea.

'Mmmm I already got speed…'

We made it to the building; I crossed my arms and leaned on the wall, looking up at the sky just thinking of the training I've had in the past. "Oh here, take your bag," Axel said handing my bag to me on my right. I forgot I gave it to him so I grabbed it out of his hand. "Thanks." I sat it beside me on the ground. Phil and Hercules started to put barrels in the center of the arena, lining them up for me to get rid of. As we watched, Axel suddenly spoke, making me wake from my gaze.

"Deonna?" "

Hmm," I responded, turning to look at him. His arms were crossed and he brought his head from looking down to look at me. "It's probably none of my business- but that Arata guy, is he your boyfriend or something?" My expression turned to bafflement from that sudden question as my throat felt strained. "Uhm…well, no he isn't," I paused and looked away from his eyes, "he just really like me, that's all, ever since we were kids. That was the first time he even kissed me," I said, mumbling the last part. "Hmmm, so do you have a thing for him?" My head twisted to face him with a glare while his posture stiffened. "Jeez Axel, you're so nosey!" He shrugged and waved his hand "Okay-okay just forget about it then- I know it's none of my business anyway…just curious," he said looking away, his brows arched. Though it felt awkward talking about this with Axel, I decided to answer his question anyway. I sighed. "I do like him a lot though; he's great guy and a great friend," I looked down at my shoes, "but that's all I think of him…as a friend…"

"Oh…I see." After that conversation, it became quiet between us, which made me feel good because the conversation was over.

"Deonna!" Phil called from the center, waving his hand in the air. I got off the building and started to run up to him.

'Oh wait…!'

I turned back and threw my cloak at Axel, which bull eyed his face. "Hold it for me!" I hollered at Axel and turned back to where Phil was standing with Hercules. "Wow you really are quite a road runner missy!" Phil said as I stopped at his round body.

"Okay here's the drill, I want you take out all of these behind me before time runs out." He pointed his thumb behind him making me look behind him; there were about at least fifteen barrels behind him in three rows. He spoke again with his loud voice. "If times runs out, you will have to do it over again, got it!" I nodded. "Got it sir!"

"Okay, I'm giving you one minute and ten seconds, so don't fail me." I placed my hand on my chest and grinned. "Trust me, I won't fail you." He chuckled. "Actions speak better than words. Prove it!" Phil and Hercules then walked to the side of the arena by the seats on my right, but not before Hercules could give me a thumbs up. When they got at wall, I saw Axel besides Phil with his arms crossed with a neutral grin. I smiled at him as he gave me thumbs up.

"Okay you ready?" Phil hollered, making Axel look down at him with annoyance. I looked down at my hand and summoned my weapon. "Yeah shoot!"

"Go!"

At that word, my body leaned forward and my feet gave way at the first barrel ahead of me. The woodened container turned into splinters by two strikes at the power my weapon while I went onto the next one. I went on to the next one and the next one after that; I even decided to hit one against another to speed up my pace. After a few were destroyed, just like Phil said, some more popped up. Sweat started to roll down my forehead as I ran and hit the barrels in the hot sun above me; at least I wasn't wearing my cloak. As soon as I was about to hit another one, Phil's voice rang my ears.

"Time!"

I stopped myself and turned to my right. 'Wow that was fast…'

Phil was walking away from Axel's and Hercules stance by the wall to come up to me. "You did pretty good girly-got about one hundred-fifty points." My keyblade vanished from my hand so I used it to wipe the sweat on my forehead. "T-Thanks." He turned around and spoke again. "Know lets do it again-I want you to get at least two hundred points this time." My eyebrows contorted at him as I huffed out of bewilderment.

'Again!'

I threw my hand up at him wanting to stop him. "Wait, can I just rest for a few minutes!"

"Eh?" he said turning around. "Kid, you want to be a hero don't cha!" I knew I already was a hero, but I just gave him the answer he wanted to hear.

"Yeah."

"Then I got two words of advice for yea!" and again with his misinterpreted wording, "Eat! Sleep! Train!" I gave out a sigh as more barrels came up around me. My head dropped, putting my hand on my hip preparing myself for more training, but I soon brought it back up when I heard Axel's voice near me.

"Deonna I wasn't expecting you to ask for a break when you're just getting started-what's up with that?" I shook my head at him and held my hand up to my head. "I…guess I'm outa' shape. I haven't done this type of training since…since I was like sixteen." Axel crossed his arms as a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "You used to do this type of training?"

"Yeah, it was my father's doing."

"Huh- that figures why you seem so good at this." I chuckled. "Thanks."

"Alright Axel, clear the area for my trainee has business to take care of!" Phil yelled from by the wall. Axel turned in Phil's direction, hollering a reply at his assertion. "Alright-alright sheesh!" Axel then turned to me and gave me little green bottle in my hand. "Huh? What's this?"

"Take it, it's a potion to make you feel better, y'know what I mean," Axel said as he put two fingers together to salute me as he walked off. I grinned and stashed the little bottle in my pocket. As soon as Axel was off the training platform, Phil started off in counts, making me summon my weapon for another dashing destructive drill.

"Okay one, two, three go!"

I went off once again at a barrel, and the next and the next, but this time I could feel myself going faster from the beginning part of my training, like my stamina has risen. My breathing slowed down more smoothly like a professional fighter would as I slammed a barrel and slammed a barrel at the next.

* * *

"Time!"

My body halted into smashing another barrel from the word 'Time' that came out of Phil's mouth. I breathed in and out, trying to even out my breaths as Phil came up to me. "Not bad kid-you did better than last time as I expected," he said stopping at my feet. I smiled. 'Does that mean I got the points?' Phil then spoke again. "You got one hundred-ninety nine points, making you fall by one." My brows curved from hearing the fact that I failed just by one point. My throat felt a little choked.

"Ugh-shoot! Just one measingly point!" Phil waved his hand in opposition. "It's alright kid, you can't always get it all done over night."

"Huhhh…true," I said closing my eyes. "You want to go at it again?" My eyes opened to look down at Phil who was waiting for an answer. I brought my hand up to my head and rubbed my temples. "Yeah-but just give me five minutes please."

"Alright tell me when you're ready." He then walked off towards the wall where Hercules was leaning on and started to talk to him. Moaning ruptured from me as I started to walk towards Axel who was leaning on the wall with his arms crossed, watching me come up to him. I stood beside him and mocked his position, crossing my arms and looking ahead. Speech disrupted my wayward gaze that came from Axel's mouth.

"You still did pretty well, even though you lost by one point." I looked up at him but his eyes were else where at that moment. "That's not eating you is it?" he asked, finally returning my gaze. I shrugged. "Mmmm eh…" I turned my head from his direction and tried to speak more clearly.

"I'm not really that upset about it, I mean, I know I'm good, but I'm not perfect."

"Mmm-hmm that's a good view on things, but in order to be perfect takes practice." I looked up at him and grinned. "Practice makes perfect you mean?" I asked. He waved his finger in a gun-like fashion at me and smiled. "Exactly. So don't become such a zombie about it."

"A zombie?" Axel brought his hands up to his face and molded his face muscles to look like an exaggerated sad expression. I covered my mouth and giggled. "Axel I don't look nothing like that." He let go of his face and smiled. "Uh huh." 'I ignored him and looked back ahead, slowly shaking my head.

'Sheesh how old is this guy?'

As soon as I thought about that question, Hercules voice yelled in shock. "Phil look at this!" My head quickly turned to see what the case of his shout was. To my burdened surprise, my eyes fell upon an inanimate object that resembled a canon. It was big and blue, but not that big compared to a barrel and it had a black spot in its front with two yellow eyes glistening on it.

'Heartless perhaps…?'

"Holy cow go take them out Herc!" Phil shouted with his finger pointed at it directing Hercules to go at it. My heart felt shocked with grief as my eyes widened.

'Great more heartless...' Axel then spoke my thought, but rather in differently. "More heartless already?"

Hercules started after it in willful hurry. "Don't worry guys I got this!" Hercules shouted as he gave the heartless a devastating blow with his fists. My body leaned off the wall when I saw two more canon heartless appear from the air in black balls.

"Deonna take them out," Axel said in a rather calm fashion. I looked up at him with my brows curved; he then looked down at me with a solemn look in his eyes. "I want you to learn how they defend themselves so you can gain the upper hand in the fight. A real fight begins with knowing the opponent." My brows furrowed as I summoned my keyblade and looked ahead.

"Right!"

My feet sped forward up to the other heartless that started to blow itself up in three intervals. I hesitated from going any closer when fire bulleted out its hole up in the air. 'Oh great, so it is like a real canon. I got to watch myself.' The little canon started to run away from me, which made me run after it in surprise. Still trying to keep cautious of the bullet in the air, I swung my keyblade at the canon twice before jumping out of the way of the round shadow above me. The fiery explosion caught onto to me a little bit, making me jump out in mild force. My teeth grinded as I caught my balance and started to run up to it before it tried shooting me again. I hit and swung at it with force, which seemed immune to my hits as it ran away once more. "Ha what's wrong scardey cat!" I kept hitting it and hitting it until it shot out another firing bullet in the air. Keeping cautious of missile, I continued to strike the canon with my weapon until I soon saw two shadows on the ground.

'Wha-?' I looked up and saw two bullets in the air about to land on my head.

"What the-!"

My feet jumped off the ground, instinctively avoiding the doubled bombing to the ground. I landed on my feet in a crouching position and saw where the origin of the other bomb was; it was jumping around on my left while the one I was fighting was on my right. 'Great another one-I should get this done quick. Be aware Deonna…' The one on my left leaned forward and started to eject its own bullet at me. It fired, making close my eyes and bring my arm up with my keyblade. The force pushed me back but it didn't hurt me, for the bullet deflected off my weapon, making its little strategy back fire.

My eyes opened with a satisfied smirk. 'Now I'm making progress.'

I went up to the other heartless that was puffing itself up to blow out a missile but it was interrupted with the hit of my keyblade; it disappeared into thin air as a glowing pink heart ascended into the air. I smiled and turned to where Hercules was; he just finished off with the other heartless that just vanished into thin air. Hercules looked at me with widened eyes as his hand came up at me in a warning sign.

"Deonna watch out!" Hercules shouted. Surprised, I focused myself and turned at the heartless that was on the side of me and brought my weapon up at the homecoming missile that was shooting towards me; it deflected and hit the heartless dead center at its black face. My brows furrowed as I ran up to it, swinging it and hitting it trying to make it go down. I noticed Hercules coming up to me about to set his foot down. I yelled at him to stop from doing anything to my opponent.

"No Hercules let me finish this!" I said not looking at him but staying focus on the heartless, "let me finish what I started!" With that, the heartless jumped back with my many sporadically hits, making it finally evaporate in thin air. When the little heart floated up to the sky, I let my keyblade go and wiped my forehead while catching my breath from this short-lived fight. I soon felt a big hand on my shoulder, which made me look up to see Hercules sweating face in the light of the sun.

"You alright Deonna?" he asked with that concern voice of his.

'Déjà vu?'

I smiled, trying to even my heart rate to normal. "Yes o-of course I am."

Clapping echoed in the arena that originated on my right: I turned in that direction and saw it was Axel's doing.

"Alright–alright D," Axel said walking up to us clapping, " progress progress progress…"

Phil was walking with him, a grin plastered on his face which I've seldom seen him display. Axel stopped in front of me with a clearly amused expression on his face.

"Jeez Deonna you made the fighting look so much fun that I wanted to join the party." As my breathing slowed, I started to inhale through my nose to help it do so normally. I then made a reply to his funny statement and put a hand on my hip.

"Ha! What party?"

"The party where you flew in the air by the constant explosions, y'know I actually felt like catching you, but then again I thought 'nah she can handle it'."

"Hmph! whatever," I said crossing my arms in a playful manner.

Phil then spoke up, trying to attract my attention to him. "Y'know what Deonna, you could be a heroin yet." I looked down at him and smiled. "Thanks." Axel was the next one to speak.

"Well since you think that way Phil, do you think you can enter her into the games?" My eyes widened as my heart sank. I looked up at Axel then at Phil, contemplating what he was going to say. Phil put his hand on his lip in thought and soon spoke again with doubt. "Eh I don't know…it seems too early for her to enter-it just wouldn't feel right for me to do that." A sullen look came about on my face from his worried thought. "Awww great." I put my hand together and started to beg him. "Please please please Phil-please? Just let me enter!" He sighed and put his hand on his hips.

"Sorry kid, but I can't, my conscious would bother me. The only other way for you to enter is to get a pass." I let my hands go and straightened my posture as my brows curved.

"A pass?" Axel and I asked at the same time. Axel then asked how much was it. "How much is that?" Phil chuckled. "A lot of munny I know you don't have."

"Oh come on man, how about a discount?"

"Ha! Like that would make a difference!" My eyes narrowed at him, "Touché."

"Well, I believe she can do it…" Hearing Hercules voice made me face him who had a gentle grin on his face. "Herc?" Phil asked. Hercules nodded at Phil and then looked at me. "Yeah, I think she can handle it. She has already proven herself already by the barrel training and fighting all of those heartless."

"Hmm…true…" Phil mumbled. Hercules continued with his encouraging accusation. "And by the way she stopped me from helping her defeat that heartless before, I knew she had it in her," he paused, "and even though it is seems a little early, I would still give her a chance at the games." A few seconds of silence went by after Hercules said that last sentence. Phil was still thinking about it and I waited patiently for his final answer as my heart beat raced with eagerness. Phil finally looked up at us with an answer that made me feel choked.

"Oh what the heck-I'll enter her in the games!" he said throwing his hands in the air with enthusiasm. A smile kicked in as I jumped in the air. "Yes! Thank you Phil!" I clasped my hands together, looking down at him, feeling all giddy inside. He smiled and looked away with a blush. "Yeah-yeah don't mention it." I looked up at Axel who was smiling at me; he looked happy and satisfied a look in his eyes that I've never seen him make.

"You happy now D?" he asked. I smiled at him and nodded. "You bet!" I then turned to Hercules and gave him a big smile.

"Hercules you're the greatest!" My feet jumped and reached to hug him. He laughed and patted my head. "No problem, I was just saying what I thought was right."

"Hey do I get a hug, I was the one who even let you compete?" I let go of Hercules and looked down and Phil. "Oh you big softy…" I reached down and gave him a hug while he returned it. I came back up and looked at Axel who looked confused and, in a way, upset. I giggled and teased him.

"Aww does someone want a hug?" I said reaching my arms out to him. Axel spoke calmly and slightly frowned. "Nah I don't need a hug, I mean, I'm not five years old..." He looked away, his face turning slightly pink. I shook my head and went up to him and hugged his waist, giving him a shock of surprise as I rested my head on his chest.

"You know I also owe everything to you. You were the one who even started it all…" He hesitated like he didn't know how to react, but then hugged me back with gentleness. "Yeah you're right about that…alright that's good..." He let me go as I did the same. He turned his head, trying not to look at me since he knew he was probably turning red like last time, which did happen that made me giggle to myself. He scratched his head and turned back towards us with a blushing smile on his face.

"Okay…so when does she start?"


	9. The Doleful Dream o f Him

**I hope you like this chapter ^^ **

**I will be putting the next one up either tomorrow or on Sunday, so check up often during those two days.**

**_Disclaimer: (Look in first chapter)_**

* * *

**The Doleful Dream of Him...**

Water gulped down my throat from the emptiness of thirst that my body sweated from the constant training that I've been persevering for the games. I let it off my lips and poured just a meager amount down my neck to cool myself once more.

"Alright, ready!"

I brought my head up, shook the water out of my hair and tossed the water jug at my bag that lied on the ground next to the wall on my right.

"Yeah, Phil I'm ready!" I leaned forward, spreading my feet back and in front of each other, summoning my metal keyblade that gleamed to a dull shine in the now dim arena.

"Go!" Phil shouted, making me race to knock half-filled barrels of sand into heartless that resembled little nights in blue coverage.

Ever since Phil decided to accept me into the games, I've been training hours above hours or…what seemed like it, five hours at the least. I've only had about a minimum of breaks that only lasted about ten minutes, and on top of that, I started to sweat harder and smell a heavy scent, which I hated with a passion since there were guys around. The sun has already started to go down, which made the sky exhibit hues of light and dark blues in the faint starry sky, while the giant torches of fire that formed a square around the platform hardly made up for it. In the mean time, Axel's been up and about in the city looking for clues about my sister's whereabouts and coming back to the coliseum to check up on me, just to see how I've been hanging out on all this training, and to give me information of what he's discovered. But I can tell you he's been having much more fun then me by the way he's been talking about the sights he seen.

"Time!"

"Whoa!" I halted with a lean on my toes from hearing Phil's shout, but lost my balance, making me crash down to the hard ground face first. "Ouch!" The pain produced an invincible dent that swelled inside of my head that turned into a mild headache. "Ugh…" I moaned, trying to use my arms to stand on my knees, but couldn't since I felt exhaustion overwhelm me. The hoofs of a goat became more apparent to my ears behind me, so I slipped my knees under me and leaned back on them, bringing my hand to my head to rub the aching spot that felt like a bump.

"Whoa Deonna," Phil said, stopping on the left side of me, "you don't look too hot." I made a groan of offence and mumbled.

"You think?"

"Eh I started to think that to," he paused and looked at his wrist like there was a watch there. "Let's call it a day huh?" My head shot up and looked at the darkened sky, bringing my hands together in a mild shake to mouth words.

"Thank you…" I looked at him and smiled tiredly at him, noticing I was now at his height on the ground. He smiled back and gave me a thumbs up. "You did great today kid. You'll be knocking out those heartless tomorrow I tell yea, I guarantee that!"

"Thanks." He started to walk away but then turned back and pointed his finger at me with his brows cocked. "Oh and Deonna, I'll show you the baths if you need one, and I tell yea when I'm speaking for everyone, you need one!" My drowsy expression turned to one of more weariness as my brows curved, feeling my cheeks become warm from that disgusting fact. When he walked away, my head dropped as I shook my head in shame. 'Shoot-this sucks…'

"Man that was a nasty fall, you alright?" The voice of Axel came to me on my right, making me look up and turn to him with wide eyes. 'He probably just got back just now…?'

His left hand was on his hip while his head was tilted to the right with a neutral composed expression on his tattooed shadowed face. "Whoa, look at that knot…" he said as he leaned over my body, trying to inch closer to my forehead. My heart rate sped as I hasten myself to stand up away from him, almost tripping backwards in the process. "Huh?" he said reaching out for me to catch, but missed as I caught my balance. My head spun and watched him as I walked a few steps away from him to the left, feeling myself being mortified from his presence.

'When did he get here?' His green eyes showed bewilderment from my peculiar display, but seemed to brush it off with a small grin.

"You alright Deonna? It looks like that giant knot on you're head is giving you one heck of a headache," he said with his hand gestured in the air. My eyes gazed up as I reached to touch the aching bump but soon shivered at the very touch. I looked at him, who seemed comically interested in my condition, making me bite my lip and turn away to the ground.

"I'm fine."

"Heh no you're not…" My ears heard Axel's feet inch close to my stance, making my head shot up in surprise. "Come on let's fix that up…" he said, his eyes relaxed, reaching out for me with his gloved hand. My heart sped up again as I spun to speed walk away with an uncomfortable easiness in my step.

'No no no don't come near me!' I turned my head slightly around and saw Axel almost at a run to catch up to me. "Deonna whaddaya doin!" I turned back ahead to build up my pace to a run with my arms going back and forth in fists.

"No leave me alone!"

"Stop running! That bump has to be treated!"

"Don't come near me! I-I smell!"

"So what! Ugh-get you big butt back here!" I gasped and turned around with narrowed eyes and saw him about to pounce on me. My eyes widened as I turned back around and made a sprint.

We were running around the arena like idiots, which seemed like short minutes of a cat and mouse game. As soon as I couldn't take any much more running, I slowed down my legs to a stop and heaved up and down as I leaned forward on my legs, resting my hands on my knees for support. 'Man this is ridiculous…'

"G-Got cha!" Axel's voice rang from behind in a huff, but failed to make me even flinch. My brows curved as I moaned in grief to straighten myself upright. 'Man I feel horrible…'

Strong hands grasped my shoulders to spin me around, making me yelp in surprise. I faced Axel, who seemed peeved and tired from all the chasing around that he did. My brows curved from his upset expression.

'Oh great-now I feel bad…'

His grip faltered as his hands dropped down on his sides while his eyebrows arched even more, appearing as if he was going to yell at me.

"D-Deonna stop it! You're s-such a baby a-about this…!" he said in loud pants, his chest rising up and down which seemed deprived of air. My brows curved as I took a step away from him with my arms crossed. "I'll do it myself."

He shook his head, waving his hand up and then down in opposition. "No, I'll do it!" he paused and stepped up to me, "your too wasteful with that stuff. I had to give you all of mine because you used all of yours!"

"Stop treating me like I'm a baby!"

"I wouldn't have to if you didn't act like one!"

My brows arched as I folded my arms in a groan. "Now hold still." He brought his hand up and opened up a little bottle that held the potion and poured just a meager amount on my bump, which I felt beat from the constant running. The feeling soon became vague, and the pulsing beat went away, which made me feel good…only partially though, since I didn't like this state of affairs. He sighed out of relief, as if trying to compose himself from this annoying situation. He then spoke to me, making me look at him by taking a step back.

"Better?" he said with a cool calmness. I looked and touched my forehead where my bump was and brought it back down to fold my arms. My face muscles were beginning to relax. "Yeah thanks…"

He put his hand on his hip and used the other to scratch his head, which he usually did when he felt like there was something wrong. "Sorry for…the yelling…" I looked up at him and then downward, inched slightly around and hugged myself, suddenly feeling bereft. My head shook. "Nah, its okay…I guess I was sorta acting like a baby," I paused and mumbled, "I guess I know what that means…"

"Huh?"

I turned to look at him and waved my hand. "Oh it's nothing…"

After that, there was a pause of awkward silence; the kind of silence that opened my senses to how chilly it was at that moment from the breeze of the night, making me hug myself even more from the thin nips. The suddenness voice of Axel made me give him a turn from his abrupt bitter statement.

"Heh, he, you do stink..." My heart jumped as my brows furrowed in daggers and looked at him waving his hand in front of his nose with his upturned smirk. My cheeks began to feel warm as I stepped up to him and pushed him to the side with hard force, making him knock down to the ground in surprised shock. I ran a head of him and turned back around and yelled with a slight balanced lean.

"Jerk!" He was sitting upright while his hand was on his head as the other was supporting his weight on the ground, looking dazed but amused. Even though it was getting darker, I could still notice that he was giving me a smirk right about now in the shadowy arena. "What? The truth shall set you free!"

"Tuff!" My feet marched ahead further with my fists clenched in abashment and embarrassment, about to head towards the tunnel where we entered from earlier. "Hey wait! Are you forgetting something!" Axel yelled, only making me stop just out of curiosity.

'What now…?' I turned around to see what he wanted as I put my hand on my hip, stepping my foot in impatience with my brow cocked. Though he was far-far away from me, my eyes focused in the dark arena to see his darkened silhouette still sitting down on the ground with his arm up, pointing to the right at the far wall. As he did that, it made my mind produce a memory of where my stuff was located. A groan ruptured. 'Crap…' The thought of walking all the way over there made me grumble of insolence. I was far too tired to walk all the way over there, which seemed like a mile, and then all the way back and into the tunnel; my muscles just couldn't take it. 'Ugh…why me…?' My feet began to walk in that direction with boldness, wanting to stay strong for myself and to ignore Axel's presence from feeling even more embarrassed than I already was. I made it to my bag that leaned on the wall to grasp it from the ground, throw it on my back and turn back to walk to the tunnel. My steps soon turned from ones of strength, to ones of sluggishness. The dark tunnel finally came in view as I got closer and closer and closer, making me grin to myself at the sight.

'Ah finally…' A tall dark figure stood on the side of the exit, one that I knew very well. I groaned.

"Man you're slow. I guess all that training must have really burned you out…" Axel said, commenting on my tired presence. My feet stopped at the entrance and turned with droopy eyes at Axel who stood on my left; he seemed pretty exhausted himself, but still topped it off with a grin that was vague with fatigue. "Axel, don't push it." Before he could utter a word, my feet strode ahead with my back sloped forward, not caring what he wanted to say.

The tunnel was lit with fire torches that hung in placements on the walls that suddenly came on as we walked further inside; it made me feel more aware of my surroundings and less suspicious of this upsetting tunnel. It felt pretty good, being the leader and all while Axel was following me. Axel then spoke that sounded off echoes on the corroding dusty walls. "You taking a bath?"

"Mmmm, Phil said he could give me one…I just don't know where…"

"Hmmm, do they even have tubs in this city?" I shrugged at his question, speaking lowly. "Not sure- we'll just see what Phil will set up for me…" I paused, slightly turning in profile at Axel, "wait should you know, since you've been all in the city and stuff?"

"Hey, it's not like I be going in people's houses to check what kind of crib they got." Turning back around, I then mumbled at his statement. "Hmph, that didn't stop you from barging into my house."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing important." I heard him huff, sounding annoyed, which made me smirk. After that, silence fell upon us again until we made it out of the long strip and into the main entrance. The fire bowels that sat in the dents of the walls made the room appear brighter. My eyes spotted to see Phil on top of a stool adding some sort of liquid to the bowel on the right side, probably to make burn through the night or something. Though my voice was low and faint, I spoke out to him to get his attention.

"Phil…?" His horned head turned in my direction, his eye brows cocked in suspicion. "Whoa girl, you look like you about to fall out!" His loud voice made me recoil as my shoulders shrugged out of my ears sensitivity. He noticed what he did and apologized. "Oh, I'm sorry Deonna," he paused and put down the silver container in the corner of the dent, stepping down from the stool, "come on; let me show you your bath…" My brows curved as I smiled. He directed me follow him, but that required that I entered the tunnel again.

'Huh?'

I turned, not realizing that Axel was behind me as I crashed into his hard body. My eyes closed as I backed up, gaining my balance before I fell over. "Whoa whoa now, don't want you to fall huh?" Axel said, grabbing my shoulder for support. I rubbed my eyes and smiled. "Thanks…"

After that, Axel and I followed Phil back into the fire lit tunnel and into a hidden door that was three torches ahead on the right. Phil opened the wooden door to see a staircase that progressed upward. My shoulders slouched in grief with a complaint. "Stairs?" I then heard Axel give a disturbed groan from the sight. "Hey don't complain. It'll all be worth it once you hit that tub," Phil said with reassurance as he started up the stairs.

'Hmph, it better.'

When we made it up, we stepped up into a hallway. Torches lined the walls on both sides that were spaced out in three's. There was an open gap of light shining out of a room down the hall on my left. Phil told us to follow him towards that light, and so we did. As soon as we turned the corner to enter, my eyes landed upon a white tub in the center of a white room. The walls and the floor were attached with white glistening tiles that appeared as if they were clean for all eternity. My eyes just sparkled as my mouth dropped in amazement.

"Man", Axel began with impressiveness in his voice, "who would've ever thought there would be such a room in this dusty building?" My head shook with disbelief. "Not me…"

"Okay, okay you can stop gawking," Phil said waving his hand in the air, "jump in already, the tub's all yours!" I looked down at him who stood in front of me and cocked a brow. "Oh-okay…"

'Where he get the water from?'

I went around Phil and stepped towards the tub to peer inside. The water was pink that steamed a fragrance that reminded me of flowers. "Uh, why is the water pink?"

"Pink?" Axel asked confused, and came up beside me to look inside also.

"Ha, just a little something I added to spicen' up you leisure," Phil said, trying to sound smooth.

"Uh huh…"

Axel turned around and looked at Phil with a smile on his face. "Do you think you can make me a bath minus the flower smell? I'm dying for one to y'know?"

"Heh, yea right. You can do it yourself and I'll tell you where you get the water from!"

'Hmm where did he get the water from anyway? I'll ask him later…'

Axel groaned. "Ugh-sheesh, I knew you would treat me indifferent." Phil then spoke again. "Oh and by the way Deonna, you don't need any scrubbing done. Just sit in it and you'll be clean!"

I turned to look at him with suspicion. "What do you mean by that?" Phil then gave me a wink and a grin. "You'll see." Axel put his hands on his hips and smiled. "Yeah, you can smell the cleanliness in the air in here," he paused and looked down at me pointing his finger, "it's even blocking out your smell."

I gave him a black look and shoved him towards the door. "Okay, get out you Mr. pessimistic," I stopped and grabbed Phil, "you to." I grabbed the door handle about to close it, but then stopped to look at Axel and smirked. "Hmph, at least you won't be getting any of this. Got it memorized?" His grinning expression turned to an annoyed frown as I closed the door with the click.

"Yeah, yeah whatever!" Axel yelled through the door. "Hey don't be taking my line!" I ignored him as I sat my bag on the side of the tub and started to strip off my clothes.

* * *

The humidity of the steamed water essence flowers as if they were right in the room with me as I gripped the tub's side. First it was my feet, then my waist, then my neck. I moaned from the quickness of relaxation; it felt like a dream bath, like it would only happen in dreams. Bubbles started to disrupt my composed mind with a small jolt of awareness as I sat up, searching for its cause. "What the…what is this?" My brows cocked holding the sides of the tub about to stand up. 'Wait, is this supposed to happen?' I sat my butt back down with that thought of mind. 'Well, it is true that bubbles should be in baths anyway…but this way?' My eyes looked down at the constant pink bubbles that popped with each second that it came up out of the water, rising only at the line of the tub's surface. 'I hope the water don't spill…' My eyes searched for the door that almost seemed to blend into the white wall. 'Phil you could have at least told me instead of surprising me…' I leaned back into the water that now engulfed my entire body, hearing the popping bubbles in the water more clearly than on the surface. A smile crept up with content and ease, the warmness of the water and bubbles making my bath feel nothing like a bath, but a Jacuzzi.

It seemed as if twenty minutes passed of leisure, leisure for a queen, but I knew I had to get out sooner or later, for I started to feel hungry. So with that, I got out and did my usual routine. Soon enough, I was out of there and into the dark hallway with my back bag on my back, wondering about the water that I bathed; when I got out, the water thinned out into the air, while the pink substance turned into a powdery form at the bottom of the tub. It was shocking and weird, but interesting. I felt my nerves plunder into the realization of where I was. I sighed. "Great, I forgot where I was…" I shrugged my shoulder and started to wonder where Axel and Phil went. Instead of wondering, I just called out with my hand curved on the side of my face.

"Phil! Axel! I'm done-where are you guys!" A response beckoned at the other end of the hall, one that was much louder than mine.

"Hey hey hey don't be too loud…!" Phil yelled coming out of a door, walking up to me with the sound of his goat feet calling off the walls. I smirked from his hypocrite-like attitude. 'Heh I would say…'

Phil started to gesture his hands in the air. "I mean, you wouldn't want to wake up the dead now would you!" My brows curved with a grimacing frown from the word 'dead'; my arms went up as if to cower.

"Dead?"

Phil then chuckled and turned around, gesturing me to follow him. "Heh he, I was just messin with yah kid." My eyes glowered at his walking stance as I moaned with irritation. "Don't joke like that with me in a place like this, I mean, I'm not that jumpy now, but I can be with the right scary motivation."

"Heh, well it looks like we got to get rid of that feeling, I can't have you cowering over a giant monster when the games start."

"Hey I'm not going to cower over a-" A smell made me pause my spoken sentence. My eyes closed and open, smelling something that reminded me of seasoned cooked fish, making my stomach churn with hunger. Phil and I turned into a room that was filled with the aroma of food. The room was dark and shady, but the two torches on the sides of the walls made up for the dark spaces in the brown dusty room; one torch was at the top of the door post, and the other was opposite of it, ahead of me. There were two counter like boulders that was opposite each other that worked like beds; Axel was sitting on one on my left, munching on a sandwich that seemed fresh and ready to eat. My eyes brightened.

'Is that what I smell?' Feeling myself smile, I strode up to him, sitting my hands on my hips waiting for him to notice. Obviously he knew I was there, but was too engrossed in his mealtime to even look up, ignoring me.

"Ahem! Where you get the sandwich?"

His head rose with a carelessness, chewing on the sandwich that was halfway eaten. "Oh this, well where you think? From the ancient prehistoric town …" The tiredness in his voice matched his face that formed bags under his eyes. I crossed my arms as I bent back with stable balance; my brows cocked with a dull smirk.

"Of course-well where's my food?" Before he could answer, he bit into the sandwich, rested his holding hand down and used the other to reach what was on the side of him. "I got you some pasta…" he said, pulling out a brown paper bag that ended in a bowl shape at the bottom.

"Oh?" I grabbed the bag and pulled out a warm white sturdy bowel; it was topped with a plastic like cover, making any eyes accessible to see into it. Though it was concealed, I could still smell the pasta that had Alfredo sauce spilled onto the yellow bows inside…or what I hope for to be Alfredo sauce. I went and sat down next to Axel on his left. I put my bag on the floor, opened the plastic cover that sat on my lap, making the smoke rise off the pasta to a greater extent; my mouth began to water. Axel turned his head with a sniff, taking in the smell of my food with his eyes closed.

"Hey! Don't be sniffing in my food!" I twisted my upper body away with my meal, trying to cover it with my hand as I lowered at him. He groaned out of annoyance as he retorted dryly. "I'm not even in your food, my head is higher than yours anyway-"

"Do I get a fork?" I said interrupting his weary accusation. He grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Women…"

"Hey!"

He then reached into the bag that was on the other side if him. "Yeah…here," he said, waiting for me to take it out of his fingers. I grinned, taking it from him and plunging it into the bowel. "Thanks…" I began eating the pasta, tasting the Alfredo sauce that I hoped it would be and the tasting hidden flavors that tasted like tomatoes, salt and other ingredients that I was familiar with. I ate like this for a little while before I looked over at Axel and his sandwich that he just bit into, squinting my eyes intently before saying anything.

"Y'know, my food looks yummier than yours." I heard him gulp as he turned to face me, his eyebrows dominantly cocked in drowsiness. "Oh really, well I guess you wouldn't really know now would you, not knowing how mine would taste since you did not taste it yeah? It actually taste delicious so don't judge a book by its cover," he said rather in a calm, dignified way. My eyebrows contorted from his bleak mannerism, making me scoot away from him out of perplexity.

"Oohkaay…"

He sighed and shook his head with a drop, squeezing his eyes shut with his fingers as if he was about to say something. "Ah…I'm sorry…I'm just tuckered out…"

"Heh no kidding." He brought his head back up, but then looked down at the leftovers of his sandwich in the wax like wrapper, looking like he was about to fall out. I leaned forward and to the side to get close to him. "Then go to sleep..."

"Of course, since I'm done eating." He then looked at me, failing to even give me a grin. My lips pursed as I brought my head up to look at the boulder that was opposite of us that reminded me of a bed, an uncomfortable hard bed. "In here?"

"No…" Phil said, making me look at him startled, who sat on a little chair in the corner of the room by the door.

'Huh…when did he get there?'

"…I don't want you two sleeping in the same room, if you two know what I mean…" Phil said as he finally stood up off the chair. Axel's head was back drooping down at the floor with his eyes closed appearing thoughtful to what Phil just said. "Hmmm, I guess I could do that," he paused, raising his head to look at him, "but, I don't think I'll be messing with her in this room or any other time-if you know what 'I' mean." I felt myself warm up from Axel saying what he just said as I yelled at him in my mind.

'Axel…!'

Phil nodded. "Alright then," Phil waved his hand up directing Axel to follow him, "let's go take you to another room."

"Kay…" Axel said standing up, crumbling the wrapper in his hands. Axel turned to look at me, finally giving me a grin of goodbye with the tired look in his darkened green eyes. "Heh, night D…" He patted my head and started towards the door where Phil was standing waiting for him. My brows curved just as they were about to leave and so I called out, startling them. "Wait!"

Phil and Axel stopped in their tracks and turned back around to look back at me, where Axel stood in the middle of the doorway and Phil was behind him. "Hmm?" Axel hummed.

"I…uh…" I began to feel even more abashed from what I was about to say. "I don't want to be alone in here…" Axel appeared puzzled at first, but then relaxed into it and grinned.

"Oh…" Both Phil and Axel chanted. Axel crossed his arms and spoke with a matter-of-fact tone. "Scared?" I looked away and shrugged. "Uhm…well I won't say scared, but more like…uhm…"

"Frightened?" I looked back at Axel and groaned. "I just don't want to be in a dark place like this…all alone…I mean…," I gazed down at the dirty floor, "who would want to be asleep in a room in a place like this…alone?"

"Hmm…" Axel began, "if I had a heart, I guess I could see where you're coming from…"

"If you had a heart?" Phil asked confused, making me look at him and Axel with wide eyes. 'Oh great…' Axel turned and grinned upon him with his hands up in opposition. "It's just a figure of speech."

"Ah…" Phil nodded. Axel turned back to look at me with a tired smile. "And unfortunately, I can…" The corners of my mouth turned upward into a smile. "So will you stay?"

Axel placed his hands on his hips and sighed. "Yeah, I guess I will," he shrugged, "I wouldn't want you to come waking me up in the middle of the night telling me the boogey man got you." My eyes glared at him as I huffed. "Ha ha very funny…"

Axel then began to walk towards the other boulder opposite of me and sat down on it. My ears then heard Phil muffle something. "Huh…kids…" I turned to look at him with my brow cocked. "And what's that supposed to mean?" He placed his hands on his hips and sighed, sounding tired and exhausted himself; I didn't realize how tired Phil was all this time. "Kids…friends... always looking out for each other." He spun back around and waved his hand, at last stepping out of the room and into the hallway.

"Night kids! I'll be back in the morning to warm yea up Deonna, so be prepared!"

"Yeah, okay! Night!"

When I turned my eyes away from the door, I saw Axel lying on the boulder, his hands threaded behind his head and his legs bent up, appearing composed and at rest. I grinned at his contended posture as I sat back up against the wall, almost forgetting I was holding the bowel of pasta in my hand. I looked back up and spoke, interrupting the stillness of the room. "At least you get to sleep now…"

"Mmm hmm-yeah, you said it…"he paused, "and a fun day it was today …except me chasing you around like a bull…" I grumbled as I ate more of my pasta that had became a wincey bit cool, feeling the sauce smear on my lip, but not caring much for it. Axel then spoke again.

"Hey, you got anymore pasta left?"

My teeth stopped munching as I raised my head to look at Axel as my brow cocked "Really, what do you think? Besides, I'm still eating." He whipped his head back, gazing up at the ceiling. "Uh well, I guess that sandwich didn't quite fill me up…" I looked down at my bowel that was somewhat empty, feeling generosity come over me. "I could give you what's left of it though…I'm starting to feel kinda full anyway." Wrenching the fork in the bowel, I looked and saw Axel turn back to me with a faint grin. "Wow, I swear, you eat like a mouse…"

"Heh, so I've been told…" I rested my plastic fork on the side of me and got up from my bed. My legs felt weak as I walked over to Axel, placing the bowel in his outstretched hand; he just sat up in time for me to hand it over to him. With the bowel in his hand, he started to produce a dry chuckle as I went back over to my stoned bed. "Heh, heh, you better not be sick with anything contagious…" I sat my butt down, raising my hand on my chest as if to be innocent.

"Me, sick? As if. Besides, you're a nobody…nobodies can't get sick."

'Wait, can they…?'

My brows contorted with that thought as Axel gave me an answer. "Touché'…"

I bent over, grasping my bag that carried my black cloak and wretched it out, spreading it over me like a blanket for more warmth. I then leaned back, lying on the boulder that I called 'bed' and started to feel myself unwind my mind into fatigue. My eyes gazed at the ceiling with drowse, observing how the fire flicked shadows off the ceiling like a puppet show.

'Pretty…'

"Thanks Deonna…" I heard Axel say. 'For what?' my mind wondered, as I felt my mind succumb to the dreamy consciousness of sleep.

* * *

_The dreary night shone not a twinkle of a moon, none of a star, no clouds and no nothing…but this was no ordinary night... for this night was weary with despair. Sweat rolled down my forehead as I ran down the gloomy dark road, making me feel cold from the wind's exposure to my skin. My heart raced as I pressed my foot on the hard bricked ground with each second…running…running for my life. I didn't want to look back at what was coming after me, and I didn't want to think about the perpetrator that has already caused damage to my mind. Trees lined the sides of the road, appearing as to be monsters with red eyeballs and pointed tree limbs, reaching out for me…and indeed they were. Tears ran down my face, not wanting to be captured…not from the trees…not from him. My body suddenly came to a stop, making me even more frantic. "Deonna…" That voice. I struggled out of the pressured grasp that made my body more heavy than it actually was, and saw that the trees went astray, and all there was left was darkness, and a full moon that looked deathly and terrifying. Yet it shone unreeled beauty and light for a lost wolf, it didn't make me feel that way in this place, it made me quiver with fear. "Deonna…" Once again, my body stopped from any movement; my heart was just about to jump out of me, from hearing the voice of him. 'No!' My eyes squeezed shut, feeling the sense of a touch grasp my shoulders from behind. They were the hands of him. My head shook as I tried to shake them off. "No!" "Please darling-you can't resist…" the man said as if to actually put me at ease. "No!" I opened my eyes, glancing up at the moon that has changed to a heart shaped moon. 'Kingdom Hearts! Help…!' The face of the man appeared in front of me, grasping my chin with a firm grip, making me look into his grey-blue eyes. "Sorry, but kingdom hearts can't help you, but I will…" "No! Leave me alone!" It was no use to struggle, as I felt myself become embodied with a swirl of darkness that streamed out of his eyes, making my breathing heavy and vulnerable to a quiet stillness of unconsciousness._

_

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_** Weird dream huh? **

**I like reviews so feel free to do them ^^ **_  
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	10. The Fight Within the Fight

**I liked this chapter ^^ I hope you do tooo~ Whoever you are~**

**_Disclaimer: (Look in the first chapter)_**

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**The Fight Within the Fight**

"No wait! Not here not now!"

I screamed, rising up from my bed to open my eyes to a shadowy torch lit room. My body shook of freight and a warmness that made me feel sweaty as I breathed in and out as to be out of breath. My heart rate beat faster and faster of what just happened and what was happening now. I couldn't ease myself down until my mind recalled to where I was. My eyes closed to compose myself once more, resting my hand on my damp forehead to make myself feel better. "Ugh…what the hell just happened?" I put my hand down and used them both to support my weight as I leaned back in thought.

"…a dream…?…but it felt so real…" My eyes widened as my heart skipped a beat. 'That dream…that man,' my face grimaced, 'that white haired old man…what a night mare…what made me dream of him and kingdom hearts?' I bent my body forward and turned to sit on the edge of the boulder with my face dropped down to the ground, just now realizing that my black cloak was sloped against the bottom of the bed. My hand gripped it up and sat it on my lap, wiping it of the dirt that was appended to it. I then looked up at the other boulder across from me that gave me the failed presence of Axel, who I last saw was eating the rest of my pasta last night.

"Hmmm-where did Axel go?" My head tilted in tune with that thought until the answer appeared in my mind, making me smack my forehead. "Duh Deonna! The games!" Stuffing my cloak in the bag, I dashed out of there with it in hand and into the hallway. The hallway was still dark with torches still lit; reminding me of the dream I had last night. That thought made me gulp, but I ignored it, looking for the door where the stairs hid behind like a secret passage.

"Dreams don't make sense-a dream is a dream that is only made up in your head…"

I found it and went down the stairs and found myself in the next tunnel; the fiery torches were gone, just now making the tunnel even drearier for the day. I went to my left, where I felt Phil should have been where the main entrance was.

"Phil! Axel!"

I yelled as I exited the tunnel and into the brown room; I felt so much livelier in here, like there was a bright aura of some kind that made me feel delighted for some reason, despite the lack of people in the space.

"G'moring Deonna," Phil said walking up to me on my right with a clipboard in his hand, a pen tied to the hole that hit the thin wood as he walked. He stopped at my feet with a concerned smile on his face wanting to know how I was doing. "You sleep good? I know that bath must've really knocked you out into wonderland." I chuckled sheepishly as I rubbed my right arm with my hand. "Oh, I wouldn't call it wonderland, just…uhm…hrm…I just slept good….ahem."

'Pttf more like the land of death and remorse…'

"Well that's good to hear!" he paused, raising the clipboard at me. "You know the games will be starting in a little while, so I want you to eat something to give you energy!"

"Uh yeah-right… but where-hey wait where's Axel anyway?" Obviously I just had to ask, since I haven't seen or heard his mouth since I came down here.

"Oh Axel, yea he went to town this morning, sayin he was goin to enjoy the scenery of this place before ya'll hit the street again." I nodded my head in understanding. "Oh."

'Hmm I wish I could see the city to…'

Phil turned his back to me giving me a clear view of his little tail, which I forgot he had at times. "I want you to get prepared for the games, so no dilly-dallying right?"

"Right Phil."

"Okay then, since we got that out the way, I'm going to check out the things in the arena for a while…" he walked pass me but stopped at the introduction of the dark tunnel, turning only his head at a profile. "Oh, almost forgot, Axel's bringin something for you, he should be back by now at least." Phil started to walk again into the tunnel, but I decided to follow him since I didn't know where to go.

'Hmm, I wonder what Axel's getting for me…I hope its food 'cause I sure am hungry…actually- I just realized it now when Phil mentioned the word 'food'.'

We soon made it out of the dark corridor and into the light of day. The sky was bluer than blue and the sun shone heat and warmth that I very much enjoyed for my usual mood. Phil walked ahead of me, scribbling something down on his clipboard with his pen, though I stayed stuck in my place. Inhaling and exhaling, I started to stretch my spine, raising my arms to the sky on my toes, feeling the shaking sensation and easing back down on the sole of my feet, closing my eyes. 'Ahh…' Suddenly, I had a bright idea that made my eyes gleam.

'Hmm, maybe I'll stretch for the games…yeah I just do that…I mean since I've got nothing else to do." With that I started to stretch in all the possible angles I could think of. I twisted my back, back and forth in intervals; stretched my neck to feel ease; lied on the ground to separate my legs to form a ray, leaning forward on them one at a time for a few moments. After that I made a split and leaned on it, feeling the relief of stress off my stiff legs. Just before I could lean off of them, a voice interrupted my stretch exercise.

"Wow that looks like that hurt…" I shot my head up to the familiar voice to see Axel in view on my left a few steps away from me, holding a white paper bag in his arms that looked occupied of some sort of ware. I smiled at him, bending back up to sit upright on my elongated legs. Axel came forward, cringing at me from my stretching display of a split. "Man-it's like you're more flexible than any other cat, I've seen."

"Ha, ha! I bet if you tried doing this you would break!" I said, rising up off the ground dusting myself off with a snicker. He stopped in front of me, holding his finger to his chin with his brows arched as if to be contemplating. "Hmmm…and I think I can believe that." He smiled at me, handing me the bag that gripped from his hand. I giggled, taking the bag from him and peering inside. "So what you get for me this time?"

"Look and you shall find…" I grinned, seeing one of my favorite foods that I very much enjoyed. "Oh yeah I found something all right…" I said, pulling the plastic punctured bag of food out of the white bag. "A bag of grapes-purple colored!" I dropped the white bag to observe the bag of grapes that seemed plump and big for eating. My smile soon faltered with confusion as I looked up at Axel.

"Uh wait-this is my breakfast?" He brought his hand up to scratch his head, looking uncertain as to what to say. "Uhm…well, Phil told me to get you something light to eat for the games…so I knew grapes weren't heavy, so I bought that." He then shrugged with grin. "Besides, you like grapes right? And I know you don't eat a lot right? So this should be perfect for you." The nerve of annoyance ruptured inside of me, making me groan with sloped shoulders. I cocked my eyebrows at him.

"Axel-I can't survive on grapes alone for the games-use your head-a bag of grapes is not going to give me a lot of energy for the battles ahead! I need a real breakfast!" Axel's brows curved with a faint grin, holding his hands in front of him as if to calm me down.

"Okay, okay chill out, relax okay? Incase you were still hungry, I decided to get you some extra stuff to much on, healthy wise that is." I crossed my arms with my brow cocked in suspicion. "Uh huh, well where is this extra food? It's not in the white bag…" He then spoke as if to be unsure where this extra food was, with the signs of his brows curved downward and the pausing in his voice. "Uh, I…uh…it's…unpaid food that I haven't purchased yet…"

I gave out a groan of vex, lowering my head at his feet. "Axel…"

"Okay you know what, how about you eat those grapes and I'll be right back!" I looked up about to respond, but found myself being shoved by Axel to stand closer to the wall behind me. I felt myself almost trip, which made me more irritable as I already was, finally with my back to the wall. "Uh…" I began, but was hushed by Axel as he disappeared in a black ball. "Hugh…great…" With my hand gripped to the bag, I plucked a grape out and munched on it; it tasted really good, though I didn't show it in my face. I decided to sit down, eating and smacking on more and more grapes until I was satisfied. Soon enough, Axel came back, appearing in front of me with a grin, holding a wider white bag.

'Hmm, same bag, same person?'

"Okay Deonna, I hope you're satisfied with this because I'm not going back out again, so get that memorized yeah?" he said, reaching inside the bag, making it sound like was being crumbled. My brows curved. "You really mean that?" He didn't say anything as he pulled out a white wrapper that held something that resembled a rock. "Huh, what's that?" He bent his knees to give it to me, wanting me to continue the transition by standing up halfway.

"Here, it's a biscuit type food," he paused as I reached it out of his hand, "it's supposed to be filled with some type of filling." I unwrapped the wrapper, studying the lightly brown biscuit and what it harbors inside for eating. "Uh, okay thanks…" I licked my lips, finally biting into it to taste a jelly like textured squeeze out of it into my mouth, while the whole the biscuit in general was all around fluffy. My eyes closed as I moaned to the taste of the grape flavored jelly; it tasted good, just like my mothers biscuits. "It taste that good?" Axel asked, making me open my eyes to nod my head up at him. "Mmm hmm- not bad…"

"Heh, well then good, because I got a lot more in here." He knelt down in front of me, holding the bag open with his two hands to make it even wider for me to peek inside, viewing only six biscuits left uneaten. I smiled.

'Heh, he could have at least been creative with his food choices, but still…' I glanced up at him. "Thanks Axel." He huffed a little chuckle before looking at the ground with a mild blush. "Mmm don't mention it." That made me smile even more when he did that, making me giggle. He then brought his head up, looking upset and abashed. "Hey stop giggling and eat before I eat it all myself."

"But I thought this was all for me?"

"Huh…just eat all ready."

After a little while, we both finished eating what was in the bag and the rest of the bag of grapes. Axel was right though. I didn't eat all of the food like I said I would, only two biscuits and a few grapes, but then again, I already knew that would happen; Axel finished everything else. I licked my fingers of the spilled jelly and bread crumbs that stuck to my hand, trying to get rid of the dirty sticky feeling before it dried. Rubbing my hands together, I turned, asking Axel a question I've been wondering about.

"What kind of monsters will I be fighting exactly? Do you know?" I asked Axel, who was by now sitting on the left side of me, rubbing his hands together from the crumbs of biscuits that he had eaten. He turned his head to look at me, giving me a nostalgic answer. "Well, as I can recall, you're going to mostly fight different kinds of powerful heartless that appear in the different worlds that we will be visiting- which is what we want."

"Oh…how about any humans?" He looked down, turning away as he sprawled his legs up to a bend, resting his arms on his knees to grip his forefingers together, humming in thought. "Hmm…perhaps…maybe…we'll see…" A vague smirk was faint on his lips which I took notice of, but soon disappeared as he looked up to the sky.

'Hmmm…'

"Hey Axel! Good you fed Deonna!" Phil shouted, making me look from Axel to see Phil waking up to us, still with that clipboard in his hand. I turned and saw Axel looking at Phil, giving him a small grin. "Yea, my little babysitting grocery shopping is done," Axel said clasping his hands together. I shook my head from his mocking statement, brushing it off as I wiped my mouth from the feeling of crumbs in the corners of my lips. "Good! Now Deonna, the games will be starting in about an hour, so I need you to get whatever you are doing done, and to prepare for the games, for you will be the third contestant up!" My eyes widened with puzzlement, but excited at the same time that I will be part of a real fighting show.

"Wow, alright," I said, using my hands to stand up and to wipe the dirt that was probably on my butt. "Then I'll practice my techniques." Phil gave me a wink as he gestured his hand that was holding the clipboard at me. "Good kid! That's what I like to hear!"

I nodded, starting to stroll over to the other side of the arena to practice.

"Yo! Deonna!" Axel's shout stopped me, making me spin around to see what he wanted. We were feet's away from each other, which I realized why Axel shouted at me in the first place. He was now standing on his two feet, appearing as to shout again with his hand curving his mouth. "Don't burn yourself out too much kay! Save you energy for the real thing!" I grinned, shouting back as I waved my hand in the air.

"Yeah! I know!"

I continued to walk over to the other side away from them. When I did practice my fighting, I liked it when I was doing it reclusively where no eyes could observe me, so it felt awkward when I summoned my keyblade and began my routine when I knew Axel and Phil were probably watching me.

* * *

I was really into this practice run with my keyblade for a while now, but I really wanted to become better at using it and its hidden locked abilities that Axel told me about. Around this time, I noticed a few seats in the coliseum that have already started to fill up with a few audience members. There were even a few people working on the platform, setting up long boulders of stone for the upcoming fight that was to start soon. That was when I realized that it was probably time to get prepared for my time in the fight. I went over to where Axel was by the wall at the entrance of the coliseum, appearing to be resting with his head hanging low and his arms crossed. Too bad for him that I woke him up from my shout.

"Axel, the games 'bout to start now?" I yelled, his head rising up as to not be bothered. He looked up to where the seats were as I stopped in front of him, finally calling off my keyblade. "Yeah, it seems that way doesn't it?" I looked away to peer at the minimum of seats filled for the games; much to my surprise, it wasn't a lot of people, but it was just beginning to start either way. "So, you ready to fight?"

"Yeah, I am." I turned back at Axel who beamed me a smile. "Well, make sure to prove yourself in front of all these people today, but in the end, it's still you just learning of the different heartless that you will be encountering later, not showing whether or not your heroin because, you already know the answer to that," he pointed his finger at me, "Got it memorized?" My eyes gleamed at him; suddenly feeling encouraged to ease down my anxious about today. "Wow, thanks Axel."

"Heh, don't be so awestruck, I was just trying to give you a little reminder of our main agenda, but be my guess to think of it as something deep."

"Yeah, whatever," I said with a chuckle. "Deonna the games are starting now, so I need you to be sitting on the sidelines out of the way," Phil said from behind, making me turn to give him my attention.

'Am I already out of the way? I mean, I'm right by the wall…' Though without question, I complied. "Alright Phil." "Go and wait in the entrance, and I'll call you up when it's time." Phil started to walk away, but then stopped. "And Axel," Phil said with a turn, "I need you to go to the other arena on the other side."

"Another one? Wait there's two?" I asked, spinning my head to Axel and to Phil. "Oh sorry for not telling you about that," Phil said, fully turning to tell me of the other arena. "The other stadium on the other side is also a place for training other wannabe heroes who want to participate in the games, but the trainees in the separate arenas can't see each other until they fight against each other on the game day."

I nodded. "Oh…but why is Axel going over there?"

"Ah, well, you'll find out later, but in the mean time, you got to be outa the way, so go!" My brows arched as I complied from his nagging. "Okay okay I'm going!" I went to get my bag to put it on my back and started to head into the tunnel.

"See ya in a while D."

"Yeah, you to…" I said turning in profile at Axel and into the stripped tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, I stepped into a room where there were five people present, standing around talking to each other about the games. They were pretty tall guys, probably close to my age, wearing brown armored breastplates, braces, greaves and silver swords that appeared clipped on their sides, topped with golden helmets on their heads that covered their faces; you could see their eyes and mouths, but that was all. Feathers stuck out in the center of their helmets like Mohawks. They also had shields in their hands, actually giving me the thought that they were indeed heroes, but then again, they're just trainees just like me. For some reason I felt out of place, like I should of had some type of armor on to, but I didn't need any armor because I knew I was a better fighter than all of them.

'Wait, let's not get cocky Deonna.'

One of the guys spoke to me from my right, pointing at me with his shield. "You're in the games to girl?"

'Girl?'

"The names not girl, its Deonna…' I said, switching my hips with my arms crossed.

"Ha, how can a girl be a hero? Girls shouldn't fight, they should be in the homes doing house work like they should!"

I retorted dryly, trying to stay calm though my nerves were about to pop. "Ha! Not this girl."

"Adrianus," a boy next to him said, raising his hand holding shied at the cheeky guy to calm him down. "Stop doing that, she has a right to participate in the games if she wants to." The guy Adrianus turned to look at him and growled. "Aetos, you know women shouldn't even be at the Olympics, better yet even participate in them!" He then turned to look at me, spiting at me as he spoke. "This girl shouldn't even be in a house, she should be a farmer working out in the sun!" My mouth partly opened from his deviant mannerism, making my heart burn with hate. My brows furrowed, clenching my fists for stress relief.

'Discriminating…against me? Sexist…'

Trying to keep myself together, I leaned forward with my hands on my hips, chuckling, that soon turned into a laughing fit. I heard murmuring from the guys, sounding shocked from my giddy display, despite being humiliated against.

"What's so funny girl!" the guy Adrianus demanded.

Waving my hand in midair, I crossed my arms, sneering at him with a grin. "And you call yourself a hero?" At that moment, his mad expression twisted into a dumbfounded look, while the guys looked at him with shocked faces. Another guy on my left spoke to Adrianus, agreeing to my questioned accusation. "Adrinaus, she's right, heroes don't treat women in the way you're treating her like this." Another guy complied. "Yeah, what would Hercules think?" Adrianus turned to look at them, barking in insolence.

"Shut up!" He marched into the tunnel, flouncing next to me with audacious mumbling. I didn't look back at him, but just breathed in and out to of relief.

'Hmmm, that should be something for him to think about…don't know what Phil was thinking of joining him up for this…' The stares of the guys were own me, I could feel it, making me feel out of place and nervous.

'Okay, I should go…' With that, I spun around, starting into the tunnel to sit on the hidden stairs behind that door to be alone.

"Hey wait!"

Startled, I turned back to see who called out to me, or who I thought did. It was the boy who stood up for me in the beginning, coming up to me to stop my walking motion. "Yes?" He had blue eyes and was taller than me by a few inches, which I took notice of when he spoke. "Sorry for Adrianus attitude…" I shrugged. "Uh, it's okay…"

'Of course it's not okay!'

I gave him a faint smile and waved at him with a turn. "Well, do well in the games kay?" Before he could say anything, I ran into the tunnel to escape his concerned shout. I didn't really want to be bothered since my mood was spoiled by that awful hero wannabe. 'Heh, I hope he fails…' I went into the door and sat on the dark stairs. I decided to put on my cloak since I was going to be fighting heartless anyway.

"Where she go?"

"I don't know, maybe to the arena." My ears heard voices from those guys, searching for me. I chuckled. "Man, are they really searching for me?"

'Now I hope they win the games, because they are indeed heroes…' I sat my head on my knees that were to my chest, waiting to be called out for the games. Time went by as I heard the boisterous horn and the name calling for the next competitor to go next in the games. I heard only two names go, as I finally realized the third one was my name that was just called. I stood up, smiling with pleasure. "Alright, time to dance…" I went out of the door and into the end of the tunnel where the seats were finally filled at last. There were soo many people that it made my nerves tingle with anxiousness. Ignoring that weird state, I saw Phil directing me to come to the center of the platform where he stood, calling me in the chatter of the millions of people seated above us on the sides. I strode up to him, as I felt my body over went a shaky feeling from all the eyes on me for my time in this fight, which usually happened when I was in the spotlight. I made it up to him; Phil had a cheeky grin plastered on his face, his hands on his hips as he spoke.

"It's you're time Deonna, make me proud you hear!"

"Yeah, I will!" I felt myself smile, hearing the cheers of all the people erupt from their seats. I took a deep breath to keep myself dignified and calm instead of feeling the nervousness that I pitted down inside me, closing my eyes. 'Okay Deonna you can do this…it's just me and the heartless, no crowds in sight for me to please, just myself…' I opened my eyes, taking my book bag off and tossing it to an overworking Phil.

"Hold it for me will you?" He gave me a sullen look.

"Yeah, yeah sure…" He walked away off the platform. My brows stitched in thought. 'Hmmm is Axel going to watch…?' I spun around to see was he on the sidelines, by the entrance, by the wall where the seats were, anywhere I could spot red hair. "Mmmm…" I moaned, "no Axel." But my eyes did fall upon those guys who I saw earlier; they were clapping and cheering as well, which made me feel encouraged. A horn blew in the stadium, making my head turn up at the sky. My heart felt grief, like there was darkness near by. My brows arched as I looked ahead to see heartless pop up out of no where like flies. Deserters, Axel called them, were running around the platform, about seven were, while a blue canon heartless was in the center.

My feet spread apart, summoning my keyblade in my hand to pummel them to a pulp. 'This shouldn't take long…" I formed a smirk, heading straight for the blue canon before it could even utter a speck of smoke. Since I knew deserters weren't going to touch me unless provoked, I just stayed on the canon, striking it and dodging its missiles until I saw a heart float to the sky. It wasn't hard to destroy, for fighting it made me more aware of its capable functionalities, like Axel said would happen. When I was done with that heartless, I went after the burdensome deserters who had nothing else to do but to just run around like mindless maniacs, and indeed that were just what they were. I swung my blade at one, calling the others to join in on the party. My feet ran to avoid there hard kicks; better to run than get hit by those feet. A cast of fire shot out of my blade at two heartless, making the others come at me once more. I jumped in the air, striking them from above until I landed on my feet. My eyes landed on one more that was running around looking scared, but I knew that was not the case. I smirked, narrowing my eyes at it as I ran up to it to send it to nothingness. "Ha! Die!" Striking it three times with my blade, it did as I predicted, vanishing as it released a stolen heart into the sky. The crowds cheered tremendously at my first performance. Wiping my forehead with a grin, I started to remember the nostalgic feeling of entertaining in front of others when I used to dance; it felt good.

After about a few more minutes, the horn blew again, rupturing heartless to reappear. My brows cocked at the heartless that looked like a plant, a blue plant and one that was opposite that; a red plant. There was two of each of them rooted to the ground. They all had the heartless symbol on their chests and four big flower petals connected to their heads with yellow eye balls and squiggly like mouths. Up came two black globs that appeared to be real like dust bunnies, just that they were both black and had two yellow eyes and red open mouths. My brows furrowed as I mumbled.

"Great-just how do they fight…" With out warning, both of the red plant spitted out balls of fire at me from afar, as did the blue plants that shot balls of ice at me. My feet jumped out of the way, not only to avoid the homing shots, but also the black globs that were approaching me from ahead. I landed in a summersault behind the black globs, ignoring them to head to a red plant that was just about to give me another shot. I took the risk of blocking the plant to see would it work, but as a result, I yelped from the pain of being burnt and hit by the ball that overcame my blade, pushing me back as I skidded on the platform. Rubbing my arm from the hit, my teeth grind from that unfortunate outcome. 'Okay that didn't work…' An ice ball came at me on my right as did another on my left. My eyes closed, stepping back, blocking them both. 'Huh?' I didn't feel any pain. I observed how the ice shots returned to their originators, having them hit by their own weapon. 'Alright!' Energy flowed out of me from pressured grasp on my back. I turned and saw the black heartless on my back, sucking the daylights out of me.

"Holy crap!"

Instinctively, I tried jumping out of its grasp and avoiding another spat of fire from a fire plant. It released, giving me the chance to strike it out of anger. Surprisingly, I struck it just enough times for it to vanish, but no heart came out. Sparing the confusion, I blocked another ice ball, sending it flying back at the plant. I then went at it, striking it down, avoiding its many head-butts until it disappeared for a heart to escape. Before a fire ball could get me, I jumped out of the way, heading for the red plant to destroy it. The red plant didn't inflict any head-butt's on me, but it's constant fire balls kept trying to burn me, which only happened every few times. The heat of the plant began to transfer to me, starting to make me feel warm with my encounter with it. An ice ball was being shot at me in the corner of my eye on my left, making me jump over the red plant to bring damage on it by the ice plant's part with its ice ball. I smirked; striking the red plant from behind for it was easier this way to do it. Before it could turn all the way around, it disappeared, sending a heart up to the sky. The black glob came at me in trying to jump on me when the plant vanished, making me step back with swiftness and leaning forward to strike it back. Dodging a fire ball, I hit the black glob four times, sending it to nothingness. "Huh, finally," I turned to looked at the two remaining pants, "two more." Breathing through my nose, I kept myself at ease when I struck the ice plant, avoiding its head-butts in the process. I decided to end it with a fire cast, making it rupture a heart as it disappeared. I turned to my right, looking at the last fire heartless for this round.

"Hmm, last one…" My feet ran at it with intense speed, going around it to hit it from behind. It turned around, seeing a homed a fireball at me, but it missed as I ran around it to the back, striking it once more for it to leave the peace. It finally disappeared. The crowd cheered for my diligent effort, making me smile as I inhaled and exhaled air to catch my breath. The sun's radiance was not helping me to cool down; fanning myself didn't quite help either. The wetness of sweat was apparent on my forehead, making me wipe it before it rolled down my face. 'Man it's burning up in here!' My hand scurried into the hidden pocket of my cloak, grabbing a potion to pour on myself for more energy. The container disappeared out of my free hand, so I grabbed my cloak with it to fan myself for cool air on my chest. My tongue itched for thirst, but I knew there was no way for me to get any water now. My mind then began thinking.

'…is Axel here now?' My body spun around to see if Axel was insight yet. To my surprise, he was coming up to me, clapping both of his hands with a satisfied smile plastered on his face. I couldn't hold my grin down from seeing him, which I showed to him when he spoke. "Wow that is very impressive Deonna," Axel said, tossing me a water jug that I caught with my hands.

He spoke again, gesturing his hand in the air. "You are definitely killing them out there." My eyes gleamed at his compliment as I felt myself blush, looking down at the top of the water jug. "Thanks Axel…but it sure is hot." I twisted the top off that hung to the side, closing my eyes to gulp down the water to quench my thirst, spilling some of the water as I drunk it. "Whoa, don't choke now; it's more reasonable to die from drowning in water, but to die from drinking it?" I let the container down from my mouth to wipe my lips from the water that spilled out, giving a reply to Axel's logic.

"Axel, that's stupid, ain't no way I'm going to die from drinking water like this." He waved his finger at me in disagreement. "Ah, but if you keep at it like that, you could choke, geez are you thought outa it!"

"Mmmm, maybe, you just have to be in my position right now so you wouldn't understand."

"Oh, I do understand-just take caution alright? In whatever you're desperately needing, even water." I groaned, tilting my head to the side. "Yeah, okay, fine…" With that, I drank some more water until my stomach was full with water. My body was finally cooling down from my little water break. I gave the jug back to Axel, beaming him a grin. "Done."

"Alright, so you ready to whip some more heartless?" he said, taking the bottle from me. I gave him a doleful tone as I slopped my shoulders. "Yeah, I guess…" His eyes narrowed at me, resting his hands on his hips as to see what's with me. "What's with that tone? Come one, let's here a cheerful enthusiastic attitude," he said, gesturing his hand in the air.

"Yay I'm ready to kick some butt!" That sounded so fake.

Axel scratched his head with disappointment looking down then up at me. "That…was horrible…" I covered my mouth with laughter, while Axel chuckled to himself. The horn blew, meaning that it was time for the next battle. My laughter soon stopped, looking at Axel who looked ahead of me to see his eyes widened slightly, then back to a relaxed state.

"Oh, looks like I gotta jet," he said, walking away. He turned in profile, saluting me with two fingers. "Do your best!" I smiled with a nod, spinning away.

* * *

My eyes landed upon five tin cans hovering in the air with two angled hands pointed at me ready to fire something, while there were about three ice like heartless in cubes. 'Oh, now I see why Axel left…leave it all up to me.' I summoned my keyblade, shooting a cast of fire at the ice cube heartless.

Time went by as I learned of my opponent's strengths and defenses. The flying heartless were definitely a mess, shooting lasers at me like I was the bull's eye, but to them of course I was. So were those cubed heartless; smashing against the ground trying to land on me or to freeze me at the least? This battle was pretty difficult because it was hard to focus on all of them at the same time. Tin can here, tin can there, ice cube down there and over there…most annoying battle ever. But eventually, I devised a plan. Blocking those canned heartless worked; using fire worked against those ice cubes. Things didn't seem too bleak for me, especially when I was down to the last tin can heartless that was present. My breathing was heavy, my body was achy and hot, but jumping this last time at this heartless should blow it away.

"Yah! Take this!" I yelled, flying into the air at the tin can before it could fire a laser at me. With one slash of my keyblade, it at last disappeared, sending the heart to wherever it was to go. Landing on my feet, I knelt down to reduce the pressure on my legs, hearing the chant of the cheers from the crowd of people echo the arena. I stayed that way for a while before finally standing up. "Whew…" I breathed, wiping the sweat off my forehead. I turned around, wondering if Axel was in the area.

'Mmmm where is my water boy?' No spot of Red hair in sight. I groaned, pouting my lip. 'Great he's not here…' Before I knew it, the horn blew again. My eyes widened as I turned back around, my brows arched as to be confused at the fast pace of the games.

"What! This is too fast!"

My fists tightened as my teeth gritted together, to see one large heartless body come out of a black ball and two flying purple heartless in the air with dark blue wings that appeared to be sturdy curved limbs. The large body heartless was covered in armor with the colors gold, red and silver; a small head and two giant arms. 'Hmmm that one seems strong and tough…but there is only one way to find out.' I started at the giant heartless that has begun to forward at me with its slow steps. I hit its armor, which seemed defective from my strike and ignoring it as it continued at me like it was trying to run me over. The flying heartless above swooped down to give me a massive headache with its balled up fist to my head, which I surprisingly felt even though I ducked my head; instead, they hit my back. My body crashed to the ground, sending my keyblade a few feet away from me. Using my hands to brake my fall, my brows arched even more as I jumped back up to land on my feet. I brought my blade back to me into my hand. Right after I got hit by the heartless, all the invisible punches and kicks from my first fights started to come back to me. Avoiding the swinging punch of the large heartless, I summer saluted to the side, grabbing a high energy potion from my pocket to release its contents on me. My frown turned into a faint grin, liking the feeling of refreshment my body went through. My eyes scanned the heartless position, slightly grinning at them solemnly. They were all coming at me like the target I was. 'Okay, now let's really fight Deonna…'

The fight lasted for I don't know how long, though the important thing was that to learn of their fighting strategies. The big heartless armor was defective of the strikes I bestowed up upon, trying to knock me down with its huge elephant arms in swinging punches. It even would do a stomach hit as it tried running at me. When I toppled it over to the ground, I learned that its head was the most vulnerable spot on its entire body. That gave me relief, knowing if that was all I had to do, it would be an easy win against this heartless. But I had to put that heartless on hold and try to defeat the flying purple heartless, which I didn't very much enjoy at all, since I had bad blood with anything that attacked me from the sky. They flew with swiftness in the air, making it hard for me to get them at the height and speed, but I learned that when they came close to the ground, I could smash them there. The more I fought and observed the heartless, the less damage they ingrained into me since my knowledge was building up on how to defend myself from each different kind that I fought. The battle soon ended. The crowds cheered once more from my fantastic win.

Though I used that high potion earlier, my body was just about to fall out. "Man why am I so weak like this…why now?" Though I felt that way, I stayed up on my two feet, slowing my breathing to normal and wiping my forehead with my hand. Once again, I was deprived of thirst. The horn blew two times, which I failed to know what it meant. I silenced my keyblade, turning around to see what was up. With my eyes squinted, a guy in brown-golden armor was running up to me, the leather like straps at the bottom ruffling in the wind. 'Oh, is that the guy from earlier?' My observation was correct as he came closer enough to me to speak, talking in mild pants of air.

"D-Deonna is it?" My head nodded. He gave me a glimpse of a smile through his over-sized helmet. "Alright Deonna, Phil told me to get you since you weren't aware of what was happening at this moment."

"Wait, what is going on then? What do the two horn blows mean?" He raised his hand to rub his neck, while the other was on his hip, his lips pursed looking disappointed about something. My face was blank, not sure what he was thinking about.

'Uh was it something I said?' He sighed, shaking his head, grinning. "Can't believe Phil failed to give you information of how these games worked."

"Oh, well, I just started training yesterday so-"

"Yesterday!" he blurted, leaving my sentence unfinished with a pause. My brows curved, grinning sheepishly as I scratched my head.

"Yeah?"

His arms fell to his sides as his head dropped to the ground, speaking as to be ashamed. "Man, I practically had to beg him to let me enter the games."

"Oh, well at least you're here…" He looked back up at me with a shrug, turning around to gesture me to follow him. "Well, let's go, you got about ten minutes to reboot yourself for your last battle, so let's not waste it talking on the battle floor." I smiled at his back, following his smart gesture. "Okay." We went to the wall near the entrance where the other guys were, talking until they saw us coming up to them. They were all standing up, beaming me grins as if to be honored to be in my presence.

"Hey, good job on you victories so far!" one of the guy's exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's very impressive to see a girl fight at the Olympics!" the next guy cried, who stood next to the first one who spoke.

"You are definitely going to be the talk of the town alright!" the last guy said who stood next to the second one, giving me a thumbs up.

I felt myself blush, holding my hands together as I looked down with a shy smile. "Thank you very much…but you don't have to say I'll be that popular…"

"Ha, are you kidding," the first guy's began, "once the town's heard of a girl fighter at the Olympics, they'll go all conservative, thinking you've been chosen by the gods!" I looked up at him with wide eyes, moving my arms to the sides.

'What?'

"Really? Why would they think that?" The guy who was standing next to me stepped up, trying to get a better view of my face as he spoke a reply. I forgot what his name was. "Why do you think? People here believe that the gods give people special privileges or powers if they think the person is worthy enough. Seeing a girl present at the Olympics is indeed weird and strange, but Phil did choose to train you either way, so that means something right?" All of this stuff about gods and special powers left my mind blank of confusion. I just looked at them with my brows curved, speechless.

"Uh…" I gagged. The guy next to me crossed his arms with his brows cocked; grinning, looking dubious of my reaction as he crossed his arms. "Heh, your not from around here are you?" My shoulders shrugged as I tilted my head to the side as to be unsure myself. "Heh, apparently not…"

"Yeah, you do dress differently from the women I've seen all my life," the guy in the middle said, resting his hand on his hip with his shield. The three guys turned to each other with a typical look in there eyes as they chanted, "Definitely from the gods." I chuckled as I shook my head, placing my hands on my hips.

'I guess they could think I'm from the gods, but still, it wouldn't be right if they didn't know the truth.'

"We'll, sorry burst ya'll bubble, but I'm not from the gods, okay? So stop saying that."

"Yeah right."

"Don't be so modest about it, you should be proud to declare it!" the guy on the right said, peering up to the sky, placing his fist on his chest like a hero. I sighed, closing my eyes as I dropped my head in defeat.

"Okay, fine, believe what you want to believe…" My eyes opened to look at the guy who I forgot his name was. He was laughing with the guys about his friend's silly pose. I tapped his shoulder, having him turn to face me while he was still shaking in chuckles. I smiled sheepishly at him. "Uh, what's you're name again?"

"It's Aetos."

My brows cocked, confused at how to say his name as I brought my lips together to give it a try. "Ai-e-toes? Have you seen a tall man with red hair?"

He held a snort as the other guys began laughing at my messed up name calling. Abashment came over me, making me feel warm from the laughter that I caused. My head dropped, bringing a small grin on my lips, though, I felt embarrassed myself. A hand rested on my shoulder, making me bring my head up to see Aietoes with a friendly smile on his face. "Hey, don't worry about it…and, yeah, I've seen a guy with red hair, your guy friend right?" He brought his hand down as I nodded.

"Yeah, y'know where he is?"

"Well, I saw him leave into the tunnel, but wait a sec…" He went over by the wall behind the guys, gripping something off the ground. My eyes lighted up when I saw my black bag in his hand, all dirtied up by the sandy dirt at the bottom of it. "Here, I think there is the some water in here for you…" I smiled as he came back up to me to give it to me in my hand.

My hand scurried in the bag. "Thanks Aietoes." And again, the guys started laughing at Aietoes, leaving Aietoes to stop their teasing titters. Feeling for the familiar water container, I pulled it out and opened the top off to plunge my forgotten thirst into the cool liquid of water. I drunk and drunk until the container was halfway full. I wiped my mouth from the dripping water on my lips, feeling more than refreshed by water than anything else. "Ah…" The horn blew, making me flinch from the rowdy sound.

"Ah, looks like it's your time Deonna!" Aietoes said smiling, his hands on his hips. I could feel my heartbeat faster and faster at this moment.

'My last fight…'

I looked at him, returning him a smile as I placed the water container in my bag. "Yeah…it is…" The three guys in the middle then gave me words of encouragement.

"Don't doubt yourself for the gods are own your side!"

"Yeah, do your best and don't give up!"

"Were cheering for you!"

My smile widened, handing my bag to Aietoes as I started on my way; I looked back, waving as I went. "Thanks a lot guy's. I won't bring ya'll down. I promise!" There voices became mute as the crowds ruptured cheers in the stadium.

As I ventured out further into the center of the platform, my eyes landed upon the guy who I was looking for all along, standing in the middle of the platform, his black cloak reminiscing with my black cloak. The guy who cared enough to give me water earlier. My water boy…the red head…Axel. He stood, legs spread apart as if ready to fight, grinning at me like everything was alright, but to me it was not. My heart jumped as my brows twisted in bewilderment and confusion. 'What…?' I stepped back, dazed and speechless for words.

* * *

**Man! What was Axel thinking? But then again...it's sometimes hard to know what that one is thinking**... **Axel don't hurt her to much!**


	11. A Fight Lost, A New One Found

**Long fighting chapter~ Fun to write though ^^**

**I hope you feel the same ^^**

**Disclaimer:_ (Look in first chapter)_**

* * *

**A Fight Lost, A New One Found**

My eyes gazed upon Axel's presence, which only stood a few feet away from me. He gazed back, grinning, his arms at his sides and hands arched, ready to call his weapons. My mind was blank, but the emotions of confusion and fright were shown in my facial features, but Axel didn't even seem bothered by it. Dubiousness stammered in my speech as I finally called out to him, but at the same time, I felt I couldn't bring the nerve to even speak in the first place; I pushed that aside.

"Axel what are you doing! Wha- this has to be a joke right!" My heart raced with anxiousness, knowing only half the parts of what he might say. He gave me a solemn look as his eyes remained focused on mine with firm grit. He spoke back.

"Deonna, fighting at the Olympics is no joke; you should very well know that by now huh?" I gulped, my eyebrows curved still with uncertainty; my body felt warm from this realization. 'He's not joking…' I surpassed the urge to take a step back, not wanting to go through the last battle of this fighting tournament against him. I couldn't help the nervous and disappointed affairs I was in; the sun above went in tune with the hotness I was already experiencing. The crowds eyes were all on us with a hushed down chant, making me feel like I was in the spotlight. It seemed like weight of world was on my shoulders, and it felt heavy. My brows then arched, waving my hand in opposition to show him my view of things here.

"No! I'm not fighting you! Are you crazy! Why are you doing this!" His eyes closed, bowing his head down slightly as if to be recalling a thought to mind. He looked back up at me within a few seconds, his eyes relaxed as he gave me his final answer. "Ever since we last fought on that island, I've always wondered who would've won that fight…me or you." He paused, placing his hands on his hips. "Miraculously, I will be finding that answer here, today."

"What! You're still thinking about that!" He shrugged his shoulders, raising his hand in mid-air. "What? A guy can't be curious?" I huffed a sigh of mild rage. 'Guys…are so competitive…I guess a guy can't live it down, not knowing whether a girl could beat them or not…'

His brazenness showed in his speech, unaffected by my upset state as he gestured his hand in the air while the other was still on his hip. "But I really have to admit…you are a good fighter indeed. You should see this as an opportunity to prove yourself that you can beat me." I just glared at him, still feeling typical about this. Suddenly, sparks of fire lit up in his hands as he slouched his shoulders forward, making me brace myself for what could be the beginning of a fight. Two pairs of spiked disks spun out of the sparks in his two hands; he clenched them in his hands as he stood up straight. The voices of the crowds went in 'ohhs and ahhs' with amazement, then cried rowdy cheers, ready to finally see the action that they hoped for. His relaxed eyes appeared menacing with impishness, reminding me of my first encounter with him on that cliff. Dubiousness still pulsed my nerves, making me shake my head.

"Axel, don't do this…" Axel then started to swing his weapons in a sloped stance, eyeing me as he spoke. "Deonna, don't think of this as a bad thing…" He then said the word that my mind respected with a passion. "Think of this as a challenge…challenge yourself against me…fight me!" My eyes widened. 'Challenge?' My head dropped, sighing out loud in a defeated accomplishment. My brows arched.

'Challenges, challenges…challenge myself…' Knowing me, I could never pass up a good fair challenge, one that could challenge my mind, and my body. I finally looked up, accepting the existence of this fight, hoping the word 'challenge' would make me feel any better. I gave him a grim look, clenching my fist together in short-term reluctance, and then finally spoke. "…fine, I'll fight you as a challenge…" With that last sentence, he smirked intently, raising his arms from his sides in a crazed manner.

"Alright! Don't hold anything back, because I probably won't be doing the same!" I ruptured a groan as I called my keyblade into my hand. He brought his arms back down with hunched shoulders, swinging his weapons back and forth in his hands instinctively, his eyes narrowed like a killer. 'Can't believe this is happening…Axel you nut…' I separated my legs back and in front of each other and leaned over, holding my keyblade towards the right with both of my hands.

* * *

He hasn't made a move yet and so didn't I, almost like were having a staring contest. I decided to take the initiative for the ball was now in my court. My feet ran up to him with the blade in hand, sending Axel into a wake up call by him jumping back from my close aura. He threw one spinning disk at me as I ran, then the next one after that, trying to disturb my bold run. Seeing the first disk made me drop my left hand while my right held my blade alone, hoping to lean farther down to quicken my speed. My body spun around the spiked disk, avoiding a devising spiked cut to the arm, then summer salted to avoid the twin disk that followed. My feet sprung up into a jump as I was just about to slam my blade into his face, but was blown off when he disappeared, making me only strike the air. I landed on my feet into a small crouch and turned swiftly on my feet. A shot of fire came in my direction ahead, having me bring my keyblade up to dodge it. The fire hit my blade to form a fiery mist, bringing the feeling of a burning sensation to my finger.

"Ah!" My blade dropped from my hand as I put the burnt finger in my mouth instinctively to heal it. 'Wait the fight!' My mind focused back, ignoring the burn to pick up my blade before Axel did anything else out of the blue. I thought too soon when I saw Axel up to me, his right arm back with his disk about to strike me. I jumped back out of the way as he swung at me with the disk and with the other, turning my steps into a pattern of frightful jumps. Just as he was about to swing at me once more, I stopped his trance in a swift uppercut, making him stumble his steps as I hit the left side of his torso with my blade.

"Nngh!" Axel stammered, stepping back in stumbled steps. He sent the disk in his right hand away to hold the aching spot that was apparent on the left side of his torso. I brought my blade up at his direction from afar, wondering whether or not I should shoot a cast of blizzard at him. He was leaning over, clutching his side with his head down. He looked up at me, smirking as he breathed huffs of air. 'Mmmm what is he smirking about?' He finally spoke to me, making me eye him attentively.

"Guess you can be merciless when provoked."

"Hmph, I could say the same thing about you…" Truly, I didn't really want to hurt him at all, and I didn't really want him to do the same, but it's not like were trying to kill each other, that will mean that something was really wrong with us, liked we've gone psycho, but still… friends don't do this to each other right? Before I knew it, Axel's hands were occupied of his weapons, charging at me in my direction. He tried swiping his weapon at me, but missed me as I jumped back. He swiped again as I jumped over him to get behind him; from the air, I shot a cast of blizzard upside down, aiming at Axel as he looked above with eyes of puzzlement. He used his weapons as guards to block the cold cast as I landed behind him in a crotch. Axel muffled to himself as he warmed his fingers to break the ice off his gloves, popping the ice in all directions. I hunched over the side with my blade towards the right, contemplating my next move. A dripping sensation rolled down my cheek like water, but thicker than the sweat that was on my forehead. I wiped it with the back of my left hand to see the color red streaked on my black glove. 'Oh Axel you…' The wound stung even more when I touched it, though I ignored it.

"You already cast the first stone," Axel began, making me look away from my hand to see him sloped over, his disks spinning in mid-air as fire enveloped around them and his body. He formed sinister eyebrows, an evil smirk that made the more so worst, one that I've never seen his apply to his face. "Now it's my turn…"

My eyes widened, but not to show fear or spinelessness, but just out of disturbances of what this fight must be turning into. Axel grasped his disks from the air and swung one that was a flamed with fire at me. I brought my blade up for a block, but decided to hit it instead with hesitation. It flew back in the opposite direction, but just then another came at me right afterwards. The spinning fiery wheel was already to close for me to act. I tried moving to the side to my right, but it already struck my shoulder, cutting it partly open to form a red cut; I held the yelp. My brows arched, putting my blade in my left hand to grasp the bleeding shoulder with my right, not knowing how deep it was at the moment since my mind was all over the place. Suddenly, a ring of fire circled around Axel and me within seconds, for it was too late before I could even act with a turn. 'Wha-?'

The circle seemed big enough for us to fight in, but it's better to be cautious than sorry. It became hotter and hotter in this fiery heap before Axel started at me with a run. He was really starting to irritate me. 'Ugh!'

He brought his fiery disk into a swing at me, but I blocked it, as I did the other that he brought up on the other side. With my quickness, I pushed him in the torso with the fuller of my blade that made him stumble back only partially, catching his balance in a forward lean. Before I could hit him in the side, he dodged it and jumped up at me, shouldering me to the ground, only making me clutch my blade even tighter, not wanting it to fly out of the ring. Before he could act upon his mischievous ways, I rolled to my right, jumping up from the ground and turned, clashing my blade with his disks as he blocked himself. It was so much hotter that I felt I could melt in my black cloak, but Axel didn't appear at all bothered by it, for he was the real fireman. I gazed intently in his green-fired eyes while he did the same; it was weird to see him sweat, for he didn't look the slight amused like he was before or on the island. Within a second, I leaned back as I spun around, hitting my blade at his spiked disks to the side, making him appear to lose his grip on his weapons with all my force. It was hard enough for him to bring his hands down from his chest, giving me a clearer shot at his stomach with a blizzard cast, making his cloak glisten an icy frost in the air that was immune to the fire all around us. "Aahh!" He yelped, grasping his stomach to warm it to warmth.

Just when I was just about to hit him with my blade, a sharp razor edge cut through my cloak on the right side of my back, making me yelp out of shock. My teeth gnashed of hurt as I held the cut out of instinct, looking at it to see was it deep, but tried to stay focus on the fight at the same time. I turned back, seeing a half-blurred Axel try to slash me once more, grabbing the reflexives that came to me to jump back. I stumbled to the side as Axel tried to slit me once more, making me fall to the ground on my right side, the heat and the minor cuts overwhelming me. I looked up at him, brows formed in daggers and teeth sharp as razors. He was standing up straight with weapons at hand; he didn't appear all that ecstatic like I though he would, but a soft seldom expression of pity he tried to hide behind the emotionless face that appeared like a mist during this fight.

'Hmph!' With my sneakiness, I stuck my hand in my pocket that held the potion, grasping it out to pour on me as I finally got off the ground. I threw the container at him, hoping to hit him with it just do it out of anger. A grin then came upon his face, seeing the container go pass him on his right side. I missed, which made me only more irritable.

"Geez, I was right here and you missed?" Axel scoffed, making me retort in a run, hoping to make up for it with a hit of my blade. I swung at him, but he disappeared in a black ball. Aggravation was now developing inside of me, but I tried to tone it down, for anger in a fight will not help me win. My eyes closed for a second, remembering what my father said to me time and time again in the past. My mind replayed his words, '_Anger, diligence, self-control, effort and endurance is not the key. Take the anger out and you're left with diligence, effort, self-control, and endurance, that's when you will experience success …_'

I chimed it in my head, feeling like it was only me in these tiny three seconds alone, not the fire and heat present that sweated balls down my face, neither the crowds cheers or Axel's killer presence, but just me, and it felt good. As my face relaxed, I spun on my toes with a dignified visage to meet Axel who was about to strike me with his spiked disk. With my known swiftness, I swiped my blade up to plummet it down on the disks that was about to hit me. Axel leaned to the right by the impact, but not dazed from it, for he caught his balance in spare time. But just when he stood upright, I held my breath, stomping my blade into the earth to use the weight in my arms to grasps and pounce off the keyblade, kicking Axel in the chest with the hidden strength that I possessed. He never saw it coming… "Nngh!" Axel winced, falling to the ground on his back with his arms spread out to the sides.

With blade in hand, I landed on top of Axel with my knees spread apart on the hard ground, for the gap that was filled by Axel's body. Our posture was sensual, but I didn't grasp that realization for the moment as I grasped his neck, holding my keyblade towards his face like I was about to hit him one final time. His breathing was heavy and hard, giving me the sense that the hit to his chests done it for him. My brows were furrowed, showing solemn clever wit in my unhappy expression. He was giving me a vague grin, trying to cover up his shocked demeanor of events. At this time, I raised my blade in the air, striking the ground next to his head on the right, making him close his eyes from the unpredicted struck to the ground, and not his face. My fingers loosened the grip on his neck as he opened his eyes, his lips forming a tiny smile. The fire was dieing down around us, which I failed to realize as Axel mumbled in a slow tone, high enough for me to hear. "Guess I'm down for the count…"

My lips pursed as my eyes glowered down on him. The air started to lose the heat of the flames, the fire flickering in and out as it sunk to the ground around us in smoked spats of fire. It left the smell of smoke and a heated platform in a black ashed ring, letting anyone know that there was a fire fight here. I lost my sight of Axel as I looked up, not looking at nothing really, just feeling less overwhelmed by the ending conflict that Axel produced. My ears listened to the loud cheers of the auditorium, not realizing that Axel was trying to get my attention as I began to look up at the bright-lit sky.

"You think of jumping off of me anytime soon?"

I looked back down at him, expressionlessness covering my face as I grasped my blade from the side of his head, placing my hand on the other side to roll to my left. My butt sat on the ground, my legs up to my chest as Axel sat up to dust himself, as well as clutching his chest like it was hurt. I eyed him from the corner of my eye, mad as all get out.

'…can't believe that he did this to me-I mean who does he think he is?'

My senses were on fire, infuriated by what Axel done to me; I just couldn't believe it, it felt like my face was stuck in the same upset expression, not trying to make eye contact with Axel as I turned away.

"Hey…" Axel began, but was interrupted by a boisterous shout from the crowds, then came a repeated shout after the other that echoed the entire arena. My eyebrows raised out of surprise from the sudden scared shouting from the seated people.

I turned to my right, seeing that they were all standing up in a panic, running towards the exits. My brows contorted in wonder. "What the…?"

"Deonna!" Axel yelled, yanking me up to my feet by grabbing my arms in a harsh manner. My brows frowned from the rough action that Axel took to get me up, but I found my way on my feet. Confused, I looked up at Axel who was staring ahead, his brows furrowed and teeth gritting in rage. "What is it?" I asked, finally turning to where Axel was looking at. I felt myself come from feeling upset confusion, to fear and above. I could feel my heart pulse in my veins as I gazed upon the monstrous black beast that was ahead of us.

"A-Ax-Axel…wha-what is that?" I sputtered, my eyes focusing on the three massive dog heads that were attached to a humongous black muscular body, walking towards us on four short legs and crushing paws in slow speed and a long tail, whipping back and forth like a black panther's. Axel was in a pause for a second before he said anything.

"I-It's a-a Cerberus dog…"

The heads of the black dog was looking ahead, probably at us with their red eyes, sharp teeth showing out of their red gums as it breathed a smoky dark mist from its mouth. My body began to crouch into cower as my mouth began to open in an 'ahh' form, wanting the need to yell out of conscious fright. Axel got in front of me, his hands out at the sides in a back curve like a shield to protect me. He turned back at me.

"Deonna go get shelter!" I looked at him, timid and shocked with my brows curved. "But-but Axel-"

"Go now!" He then turned back at the monster while I did the same, seeing how close it was, for it was only a few feet ahead from us now as it stomped the ground. Axel backed up, making me copy him from his cautious movement. The weapons that he used on me appeared in his hands in sparks. My eyes widened as I looked at him, knowing what he was about to do. Not turning to me, he spoke almost in a whisper.

"I'll take care of this mutt…"

It finally stopped in front of us in a big stomp. My feelings were in a big contradiction, not wanting him to fight and to leave him here with the beast. 'No, I can't leave him!'

"Deonna go!" Axel then jumped at the face, striking it in a disk that was ablaze. The dog backed up from the flamed disk in a roar, but not hurt enough for it to stop its horrific biting tactics. Scared and bare, I ran back to the entrance, not taking notice that the seats were now empty. My eyes focused ahead, seeing an armed figure running towards me; it was Aietoes in his brown golden armor, or one of the other guys who I met earlier. Surprised, I called out to the person, yelling the only name I could think of.

"Aietoes!"

"Deonna!"

We made it to each other; for I realized it was indeed he from the hearing of his voice. Aietoes grasped my left arm, pulling me to follow him to safety, speaking through the slit of his helmet. "Come on! Let's get out of here!" I nodded, running with him towards the exit. Just as we were about to past the brick door-post, my feet stopped in a halt while Aietoes advanced ahead. My eyes widened, turning to look at the shape Axel was in. I could see Axel jumping, throwing his disks at it as the many three heads tried to bite his head off.

"Axel…" My brows curved, wondering would he be able to take down the evil dog. Just then, I heard Aietoes voice, calling me to follow him.

"Deonna what are you doing! Come one, we got to get out of here!" Aietoes said running back to me to pull me with him. I turned back to him, struggling out of his grasp. "No wait! I can't leave him with that thing!" His grip loosened, staring at me in astonishment. "But Phil told me to help get you and your friend out of here, but your red-head friend already started fighting the thing!" I turned away from him to scan the fight, finding Axel getting up from the ground from a fall, and getting back up to fire ball the beast, only making the beast more agitated by stomping the ground. My head dropped, my conscious calling me to thought.

'I can't just run from this fight while I know Axel will need my help, I couldn't ever live it down if something happened to him because of my cowardice. Though it's terrifying, it has to be one of the first giant beasts I am now encountering right now and soon enough, later in the other worlds will there be more violent ones. I can't run!'

That thought flowed to my heart, making me act upon it in a run out of the dark tunnel, towards the fight that was asking for my help from Axel.

"Deonna!" Aietoes called from behind. I ignored him, calling my blade as a response to his called pleas. I could still hear my name being called, but I didn't even know if he was running after me.

* * *

I caught up to the fight in a hurry, but at this time I started to become tired, though my defenses were still on the alert. Axel was striking one of the heads of the beast while the beast itself was trying to eat Axel. That made my heart jump. My brows furrowed, pushing that feeling aside to go on with my sneaky attack from the side. My blade struck the giant's paw with a quick swift, then again and again. The pressure from the strikes seemed to have caused no damage to the paw, but it surely got the one of the beast's heads' attention, calling my ears to hear a rumbled growl above. My eye caught the head staring at me with tension, its red eye glowing the color of blood, causing me to gaze in fear. "Uhh..." Suddenly, it lounged at me, trying to get a bite of me.

"Whoa!" I screeched, jumping out of the way as it tried to bite me once more, making the other heads to follow along. My heart raced from my chase, not wanting to get chomped off of as I jumped out of the way. "Deonna!" My ears heard a yell on my left as I ran from the biting mouths, having me turn in the direction of the voice to feel a grasp on my body from the same route. It was Axel who grabbed me out of the way of an upcoming bite, flying over by the wall for better shelter. The turbulence of the wind breezed my forehead of coolness, but stopped as we landed out of the way of the giant dog that was searching for us, sniffing its way to us. Axel let go of my waist and moved to my right for deliberation of my motives; his brows were arched with disapproval and worry, and the sound in his voice said it all.

"Deonna! I thought I told you to get out of here! There's no way you could go against this thing!"

"But I can't let you go against it alone Axel!" He waved his hand, opposing my helpful gesture. "No! I can't let you risk you're life on this thing! Death is just begging for yea here!"

"Oh! And not you! As I recall it, that kick to the chest really made you hit the wind earlier during our fight!" Axel's eyes widened as he turned to the right, grasped my hand, pulling me away with him. My head spun as I ran, not realizing how close the giant dog was to us, but it sure did walk slowly as the mist of darkness came from their mouths. 'Whew that was close…'

We then made a stop farther away from our original stance, hoping to get a little chat with each other before the dog surprised us again with its near presence. Axel let go of my hand as he turned to me, a peeved look in his eyes as he spoke. "Please, don't bring that up right now…" My hands tightened in fists as I stood up for myself, pointing out my view. "Besides, I'm a keyblade wielder, and they don't run away from fights of monsters like these, I mean this is just the beginning for me. We challenge ourselves for the better!" His expression was blank after that, but still contemplating with a dubious mindset with his brows still in a serious frown. My mind then got the thinking of that huge statement. 'Wow, that felt good saying that!' Axel grabbed my hand again, pulling me with him towards the center of the platform, running like road runners. This time, I didn't look back, but listened to what Axel said as we stopped in the center, his back facing me, still with my hand grasped.

"…okay fine…you can fight, just watch yourself…hear?" A smile found its way on my lips. "Thanks Axel, believe in me okay? Like you did before." He then turned to me, letting go of my hand with a faint grin.

"'kay, sorry about that, I guess I just didn't-" he paused, looking ahead with his head tilted up; his brows twisted in an arch with a sneer.

"Alright, heads up! Here's you're chance D!" I mocked his posture and expression, seeing the giant beast about on top of us. It rumbled growls and barks, which screamed my ear drums, having my hands come up to my ears to cover them.

"Man that's loud!"

"Yeah! Just ignore it and fight!"

The faces lounged at us with their sharp teeth, but hardly even got a little snap at us as we jumped out of the way. Instead of getting the middle head, I ran towards the one on the right, the one I was fighting before, while Axel got the head on the left, striking it in bullets of fire and large swipes of his sharp disks. The head was a little slow to act by my hits of the keyblade, but that didn't stop it from trying to bite me, or stomp me with its giant three-clawed paw. The sharp teeth managed to grasp the end of my cloak, almost ripping it off as I leaped back. 'Shoot!' My breathing was getting a little heavy, for this fight was pretty difficult, so breathing from my mouth and through my nose would do me better. With that, my instincts told me to go for the eye; for I knew the eyes were one of the weakest vulnerabilities of any thing alive with eyeballs. When it lounged, I jumped on its jagged muzzle, shooting a fire cast in the right eye, the last one I had. My feet leapt off before it could roar in pain, running away to see what was it about to do. Just after shooting fire at the other head, Axel came over to me in a run, stopping on the side of me with a heavy huff. Suddenly, all three heads bowed their head towards the ground with their mouths open, as if about to vomit. "Uh oh, watch out now…"

"Huh?" I turned to him then back at the dog. Out came a swivel of darkness in a pond like texture from their mouths, then dark circles coming up sparsely in the ground towards us that gratified in an upward mist. "Jump or roll!" Axel warned, jumping from an incoming dark geyser. I did the same as one appeared right under my feet. 'Great!' With teeth gritted, my feet didn't stop this repeated action until they all disappeared from the ground; it left me tired and breathy, but for some reason, my left leg was killing me. I didn't know why, but that didn't stop me from going at one heads again.

'Ugh, how can I end this fight fast? It's so…annoying!' Suddenly, an idea popped in my head. My eyes gleamed from it. 'Hmm, maybe I can attack from the head, like pierce its skull or something?' I then smiled. A black streak crossed my path landing right in front of me; it was Axel who just catched his disks from the side of the monster. He turned to me as he spoke.

"Hey, I got an idea- I get on the heads of the dog and attack from there while you attack from the ground!" My eyebrows contorted from that weird similar thought. "Hey, I was just thinking the same thing!"

"Oh? Well great minds think a like." He smirked at me, heading towards the dog that was stomping its way towards us. The dog started to shoot large fire balls at us; my eyes widened as I dodged them as they flew over my head.

'Whoa they shoot fireballs!'

Axel made it on their heads, piercing his sharp weapon into their skulls like needles. They roared from the pain, giving me a chance to strike the middle head's chin as it went up. Suddenly, the feet of the monster went up into the air, making me more alert of what it was about to do. 'Shoot!'

I jumped from the shockwave, not injured from it from my clever thinking. 'Hmm, is that all this monster is capable of?' A smile came up on my face, feeling myself satisfied for this experience. 'Let's see; fireballs, bites, shockwaves, and black balls in the ground, mmm, I guess I can manage that…besides not dieing in the process.'

With a cast of my blade, a strike of thunder was what I wanted to try on its heads. With Axel on top damaging their brains, I could strike it with lighting, which should give us a better winning status. I acted on that idea, standing feet's away, finally doing a thunder cast at the heads. Unknowingly, Axel was still swiping at their heads, getting caught up in the middle of thunder shot of lighting. The heads yelped as Axel did the same, jumping off the heads in electric shocks. My brows curved as I covered my mouth. "Oops…"

Meanwhile, the heads roared from the shocking pulses, falling to the ground with their pink tongues sticking out, breathing heavy pants in defeat. Seeing the beast's defeated posture, elation spread relief throughout my mind and body, having me smile with bliss as to raise both my arms to punch the air of our giant victory. "Yes! We did it!" As I jumped for joy, I began to feel the pain in my left leg from earlier, which I ignored during the fight. My teeth gritted from the pain in my leg as I stopped my lively cheer, having me gaze at it by moving my cloak out of its way. The voice of Axel perked my ears ahead of me.

"That was definitely a 'shocking' win…" Axel began. My head shot up, ignoring the pain to greet Axel as he walked up to me with an electric presence in his step. My brows contorted from his funny appearance. 'Axel?'

His hair was up like a nappy troll's hairdo from the lighting cast I threw on the dog. My eyes squinted, covering my mouth in a smile to giggle as I held my stomach with my other hand. Axel looked at me confused, his lips twisted out of misinterpretation. "What?" Just then, an electric wave bristled his hair upward, having me to crack up in a laughing fit.

"Ha ha ha ha! It's y-your hair Axel! It's r-ridiculous!" His arms reached up to touch his hair, his eyes gazing along. "Wha- my hair-?" Leaning over with my stomach gripped, I looked up, nodding my head at him as I breathed in half laughs, and then finally standing upright in a shaky stance. He messed with the fluffed hair some more, finally realizing how it was positioned. His eyes closed, shaking his head in a mild chuckle, resting his left arm down while the other pointed at me. "And I owe this all to you." My shoulders shrugged, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Heh, sorry…"

He then smoothed his hair back to the way it was in graceful strokes. My eyes observed the careful care he took with his hair, though, subconsciously thinking about the pain in my leg that felt like a big cut. I looked down at it in wonder, not really wanting to show the pain I was feeling in front of Axel. My mind wanted to hide the complaint, though it would be better if he did know.

"You alright? Not hurt or anything?" I brought my head up, seeing Axel with a soft curious gaze with his hands on his hips. I replied with a small grin as my hand found its way to my left shoulder, rubbing ripped clothing. "Oh, I'm alright-just a little tired and…"

'Wait…' The constant rubbing on the tattered garment recalled the remembrance of the fight I did reluctantly, fighting against Axel as the final brawl. My brows formed a sharp arch from the lost thought and a sneer to complement showed in my face, making Axel appear dumfounded to my indignant display of emotion.

"Wow, what's cookin' you're grits?" Axel asked with unawareness, his hands stuck in mid-air wanting me to tell him what was on my mind.

"Hmph! Don't bother!" My nose stuck up at him as I marched passed his confused stance. My hands were going back and forth in winged fists, upset as I heard Axel's unquestionable answers to my piqued behavior.

"Deonna! Wait!"

The more I heard his voice, the more the nerves in my leg wanted to stomp the ground, but I knew that would not do me much help for myself, or my aching leg either. Axel was trailing me, grasping my right shoulder to stop for him and his puzzled unanswered questions.

"Deonna! Wait! What's wrong with you! Stop doing that!" I shook his hand off my shoulder forcefully, not turning to him as I gave an undirected shout.

"Leave me alone you dog!"

His hurried steps stopped, but I didn't look back, not caring if he stood that way forever like a contemplating statue. Within a few seconds, my burning ears heard a yell. "Wait, did you just call me dog!" My feet stopped at the questioned yell, turning my head along with my torso. His appearance was priceless, his stance just a few feet away from mine; a mixture of shock, surprise, and unpredictable mannerism coming from me, resulted in him looking like a troubled fool.

Gazing at him with a bleak look, the sound of my voice spoke with sullenness. "Did I stutter?"

With that, I turned, advancing my steps, but with those first steps, my leg began to feel worse, having me slower my pace almost in a leap. By then, I heard his voice again, running up to me from behind. "W-Wait Deonna!" My hand clutched my leg, finally forming a stop as my teeth gnashed from the pain. 'Great, no way of hiding it now…'

My body leaned over, breathing through my mouth to get extra air as Axel halted right next to me, placing his hand on my shoulder out of worry, bowing forward to get a good look at my face.

"Deonna! What's up with you! Wait- you not hurt are you!"

I moaned, closing my eyes. My hands opened my cloaked leg, now just realizing a red stain on my pants where a tear was left was open on the calf of my leg. My eyes widened from the epiphany as Axel voiced with anxious concern.

"Whoa Deonna! I thought I asked if you weren't hurt or not!" he said, kneeling in front of me to the ground to observe my leg. 'Man, I can't believe it really was a cut in my leg.' My eyes searched for the lying mutt, who was drooling from the exhaustion of the fight on the far right of us. 'Stinking mutt…'

I turned back to Axel, who was just now standing up to scratch his head with a dubious look in his eye, grinning, but not with a gleam. He then spoke. "Well, appears fixable to my point of view. Just use a potion, a high-potion, just to reduce infection and all that other yucky stuff," he paused, humming, "hmmm, just don't know why you didn't fix it earlier…"

I moaned once more, listening to his command, but not giving him an answer to the reason why I didn't tell him. My body leaned over, pulling up the wrinkles my pants featured, grabbing out a high-potion from my pocket and pouring it on the big, dried red wound, which seemed to stretch about six inches from the knee and to the middle of my calf.

'Man, I guess I should have told him…great, my lack of judgment is plummeting.' As the wound sealed to health, so did the other scrapes and scabs that was bestowed upon me in my last, two fights.

"Hey, are you'll alright guys!" A voice hollered from up ahead, sounding very much like Phil's voice. The worried heard voice had me look up, as Axel turned to follow through. Phil was running towards us in his short speed while his stomach appeared to jiggle from the movement, but Hercules surpassed him in his mighty lengthy pace while a bag was flying in the air by the wind on his back, making his way towards us in no time at all.

"Are you guy's alright?" Hercules asked anxiously, stopping in front of us in a pant, while the black bag stopped moving to appear attached to his back. 'Huh, my bag...' His blue eyes were widened, turning to the right to see the black dog lying on the ground trounced by us.

"Phil told me that Cerberus got loose again…but it seems that…you two already took care…of that…?" he asked, turning back to us in disbelief. My lips grinned sheepishly, shrugging to his typical discovery. "Uh, surprise?"

"H-Holy cow, you guys b-beat Cerberus!" Phil asked in a stuttered shout, finally stopping in front of us in a breathy huff of air as he bended on his knees to catch his stolen breath, gazing at us in alarm. This time, Axel gave a reply to the repetitive shocking statements, speaking as his rose his hand in the air as a gesture.

"Well, what you see is what you get, eyes don't lie." My eyes picked up a happy smile on Hercules face. "Well, that's really well done, both of you," Hercules applauds, gazing back towards the beast, "it's just really surprising that you guys actually beat Cerberus, the dog from the underworld…" My brows rose from that word. 'Wait, Underworld?'

"Heh, just don't be too surprised when you see the hidden tricks we possess," Axel said, clasping his hands together, "but unfortunately, we did our job here today, and I feel it's about time we get going on our way now." He then turned to me, expecting me to agree with him. "Right Deonna?"

I gave him a frown, crossing my arms as I looked a way, shifting my leg to the other, feeling bothered by his gaze. "Yeah, I guess so…"

"But wait, how about the trophy?" Phil asked, sounding distraught. 'Trophy?' I thought, turning my head towards him.

"Mine?" Axel began, his tone amazed with shock as he turned back to gaze at the little midget. "Oh it's alright. I don't need the trophy now I-" Phil interrupted him in a growl.

"Not you, Deonna's trophy!"

"Ah…uh…I knew that…"

My eyes went ample, bliss flying up my nerves from the words Phil spoke. "My trophy?" I asked, sounding amazed as I held my hands together in front. "That's really cool of you Phil, but perhaps you can hang onto it until I return for a visit huh? I mean, it'll probably make my bag more heavier to where I'm going." He moaned, rubbing his chin from my request in thought, looking away.

"Hmm, if you wish for that, I'll comply," he grinned, his eyes focusing back on me. My smile shone with a chuckle.

"Heh, thanks Phil."

"Oh, here's your bag Deonna," Hercules said, having me turn to him, smiling as I took it out of his outstretched hand. "Thanks…" I put it on my back. Axel then turned to walk to the side of me, waving his hand up in the air to call upon our secret dark portal of worlds; it came up on the left side of him, only just a few feet away. "Alright, let's go D."

Grasping my bag by the strap, my eyes darted a sneer at him. "You know, I'm still mad at you…" With that, I strode pass him, leaving him still confused about the weird behavior that has returned. "What are you mad at me about?"

"Hmph, you know what…the fight…" I said, not looking back. "Wait, the fight where we clashed up against each other?" Axel asked, dashing up to the side of me in a bend, trying to get a better look at me. Ignoring him, I turned to look at a startled Phil and Hercules, staring at us with blank expressions. I grinned at them, telling them a farewell.

"Bye guys! And tell Aeitoes I said bye and to the others!" They both hesitated, but waved bye as well.

"Bye, careful out there!" Hercules said, appearing a bit unease from the dark portal. "Yeah, show no fear during oppression or anything!" Phil hollered, waving me bye.

"Alright!" My body spun back towards the portal, walking ahead while Axel did so, peeved from my behavior.

* * *

**Finally a new world their going to ^^ One that is original by me though.**

**Rate and Review is you please ^^**


	12. Harvest Town

**Longer than I thought it would be...hope you like this chapter and new world~**

**Disclaimer: _(Look in first chapter)Harvest Town was made by me)_**

**_(I edited something at the bottom of the page where author's note at, for those who's wondering what's taking me so long to update) 1/30/11_**

* * *

**Harvest Town**

The swirling light of darkness surrounded us for a brief moment, and then came light. We stepped out of the portal and onto a dark-bricked road that divided a grassy plane on both sides, entering a new world. The yellow sun hung brightly in the blue sky, where clouds in there own shapes floated sparsely in the atmosphere. Axel toned down on the nagging, but was still upset about me being mad at him. Reluctant I was to ask him what world we stepped into, but curiosity had told me to ask him anyway.

"What world is this?" I asked, turning to my left with my arms folded, looking at Axel, his eyes elsewhere. He looked my way, only slightly though, his beady green eye small and averse. "Harvest town," he said, his speech still and monotonous, turning away to gaze all around.

'Harvest town huh? Weird name…people here harvest plants or something?'

I looked away, staring ahead the long road, thinking of the world's nature. Axel started walking ahead of me, signaling me it was time to travel onward. After a moment of quiet steps, Axel spoke, only eyeing me in the corner of his eye, and not with his whole face. "I've only been to this place once, so don't be too surprised if something comes up outta the blue that I don't know about," Axel said, sighing as he put his hands on his hips, "get that memorized." My ears listened, but refused to reply, only giving him a, "Uh-huh…" as I looked at him. I was still holding a tiny grudge against him about the fight, which loomed an ice- Berge between us and how I treated him; I didn't talk much when I was upset with a person, but Axel still did, though, more quietly. He then went back to peering ahead, resting his arms to his sides as he walked.

For a few moments, my eyes gawked at the scenery of the landscape. The brightness from the sun made the grass lively and green, the soft breeze of the wind showing the sheen as the grass laid down flat, and then swayed back and forth, almost like an emerald sea. The sun wasn't really beating down on me like at the Coliseum either, which was a relief on my case. Even though I've been in this world for only a few minutes, this world appeared really different from the other worlds I've been to so far; the unruly quietness was relaxing and the dancing grass was entertaining to watch. Obviously, it eased my nerves. Suddenly, Axel threw his hands behind his spiked head, speaking to me as he did so.

"Well, looks like you have an eye for this place, huh?" I looked at him, his head tilted back at the side to look at me as he continued to walk forward. Surprisingly, I spoke back, just now releasing the reluctance of speech towards him of just wanting to answer the thoughtful question he asked. "Yeah, it's really bright and green here…pretty."

"Yeah, must remind you home in a way," he said, turning back at the road. I gazed at him, feeling a tiny smile hidden in my face. '…just read my mind.' Axel then spoke again, his hands still threaded behind his head as he leaned back on them, still looking ahead. "Deonna, when we fought each other back there…" Soon then, the tiny smile went away as he began that sentence about the showdown we had earlier, making me a bit uncomfortable as he continued, feeling the anger I had towards him more apparent in my veins. I rolled my eyes in a muse, gazing away. 'Great, here we go…'

"Y'know, I noticed when you hit, you hit hard," he paused.

'Huh?'

Him talking about me hitting him caught my interest, causing me to turn back to look at him curiously. His face was turned, a grin on his lips as he continued. "And when you stomped my chest, it's like you broke a rib bone outta me." Just then, I couldn't hold the small chuckle that came out of my mouth as my head tilted down. "Heh, really?"

"Yeah, I had to hold my chest just to sit upright." Another giggle came up, having me look back up at him, waving my hand in front of my face as I bragged. "Well, I not a big bragger, but I do have to say that I'm quite the kicker." Our little conversation struck the stubborn nerve, melting the anger that held my temper towards him; what a relief this feeling was, for, I felt more composed being in his presence now. He turned back ahead, continuing the conversation. "Yeah well, if I had more time and energy, I could've won…" My head shot up at him, huffing a laugh at his sorry-of-an-excuse win that could've been.

"Ha! Nu-uh," my head shook, grinning behind his back, "you just have to admit that you 'lost' to a seventeen year old girl, and there was 'NO WAY' you could've won, in the circumstances you were in."

"Oh, don't let it get to your head-"

"Submit!" He then sighed, his arms falling to his sides as if to really be defeated by our silly dispute. "Man, you're never going to let me live this down are you?" he said, turning his head. Shrugging at his answer, I laughed with my mouth covered by my hand, eyeing him shyly. "Heh, he…probably so."

"Well, you appear all giddy, does this mean that you let go of the resentment you had towards me?" My hand lowered to my side, grinning at him. "You've noticed?" I shrugged with a tilt to my head, then back to center like I was unaware myself. "Yeah, I mean I couldn't be mad at you forever just because of some silly fight right?"

"Yeah, really mature of you…" he said with a smirk, turning back ahead. "And…well…I'm sorry alright?" he continued, abashment in his voice. I smiled to myself, pleased about his humble state. "Thanks…and I'm sorry to."

"For what?" My head lowered, eyes downcast at the road as I answered. "I don't know…for being mad at you and being indifferent I guess." He shrugged from my answer. "Okay, whatever fill you with content, but at least the ice has melted between us." He then let his arms fall to his sides as if to be relaxed, his arms in a mild swing.

After that, my mind went into curiosity mode, wondering what to talk about besides hearing the quietness of the breeze.

'Mmm, oh, I know what just to talk about!' I quickened my pace up a notch to lean forward with my arms behind my back like a little girl, gazing at him with innocence. "Hmm, so Axel, where are you originally from?" He seemed startled by the question as he turned my way, asking what I said like he didn't hear me the first time. "Uh, huh?"

"Hugh, where are you from Axel?" He didn't answer right away, almost like he was in a trance of thought, as if it was that hard to grasp from his brain and speak it in the human language. He looked away from me and turned ahead, his face appearing stiff and motionless. 'Hmmm, why he looks like that?' When I finally leaned back off his space, he spoke in a sturdy dry voice. "Uh…It was Radiant Garden." My eyes gleamed from hearing such a flowery word, my hands reaching each other behind my back as I bought a smile. "Oh, Radiant Garden, sounds pretty."

"Mmm, it was…"

"What was Radiant Garden like?" He looked at me with a grin and then back, sighing before he spoke. "Well, the residents were nice, everyone knew everybody, and the ice-cream was good." My shoulders shook, giggling from the last part of his sentence. "And that's all you got to say?" He moaned unwillingly, turning his face to me as he drifted his hand up into a waving gesture. "Uh, well…how about we stop talking about that place and converse about something else huh? I don't really feel like going down memory lane right now." He turned back to the road, leaving me a bit blank in the face.

"Oohkay…" I cooed as I looked down in a frump, wondering what else to ask him without being turned down. 'Hmm, how about- oh not that…uh…ah, how about his real name?' I gazed back up to look at his sun-lit profile. "Hey Axel, what's your real name?"

"Huhh," he sighed, closing his eyes like I was a big bother to him. Suddenly, he chuckled, turning my way with a partway grin. "Heh, you got to be the only person who ever asked for my 'somebody's' name…"

"Oh, okay, then, what is it?" He gave me the answer as he turned back around. "Lea." At first I didn't say anything for a second, for I was a bit puzzled at the answer he gave me. My brows contorted from uncertainty as my lips pressed together in thought, my eye drifting away from his face. 'Lia? Is that a girl's name?' I huffed a chuckle, looking back at him to see him staring at me as to be uneasy, his brows twisted from my sudden still silence, and then the hearing of chuckle. "What?" he asked.

"Lia? Is that a girl's name?" I snickered, grinning in disbelief.

"Nawl it's not a girl's name…well," he tilted his head to the side, "if you spell it 'L-i-a' it's girlified. But my name's spelled 'L-e-a', guy wise." My head rose slowly in understanding as I looked away. "Ohh, I see…" I then smirked menacingly, turning back to Axel in a tease. "All right Lia!~" I mocked in a girly tone, chuckling to myself to watch Axel's pinch reaction. "Hey, don't say it like that!" I turned away, grinning to myself in pleasure of his funny reactions.

"Oh, sorry Lia…"

"It's not Lia! It's Leeah!"

"'kay Lia…"

He sighed a heavy huff out of the constant annoyance I was throwing at him. I turned to look back at him in a non-bothering smile, hoping to catch him off guard and to forget the teasing. He was looking at me; his face at first tense, then softened in perplexity, turning away to stare back at the road. His eyes closed as he spoke. "You make my name sound like a joke…man I guess the tables turned," he said, rather in a cool unaffected manner.

'Hmm, tables turned?' I thought, bringing my head down. 'Oh, I'm annoying him now, but he's not annoying me like before…' I chuckled. 'Uh well...'

My head went back up, my eyes landing on dark, brown dirt on both sides that was yards away from us. My eyes squinted, observing the out-of the-blue change in terrain. "Hey Axel, are we close to the town yet? I mean, if there is a town at all?" I turned back to him, his hand back behind his head as he replied. "Yeah, really close…"

"Well why didn't you transport us to the town instead of on this long tiresome road?" He turned back to me, sounding a bit taken back. "What? I thought you liked this scenery? It feels good to walk to the town from here."

'Hmm, can't argue with that.' But my stomach growled hunger and my body cried sleep, which I've been trying to overcome by talking and keeping my senses on the alert by scanning my surroundings. As we walked further, I began to notice that the darkened terrain was similar to the appearance of crops, an invisible line parting the dirt in a cropped fashion. My eyes gazed away from the dirt, looking at Axel as I questioned him. "So, people here are farmers or something?"

"Yeah, plucking and harvesting grain is there way."

I hummed, looking back at the crops. "Hmmm interesting…" Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. The appearance of green began to fill the crops in a bushy like texture, continuing down the fields in a repetitious pattern on both sides away from us, vanishing from our sight of vision like it was cut off in the distance, but they really wasn't.

'…'Nobodies' can't feel right?'

I gazed away from the pretty sight to look at Axel with that thought of mind, feeling a bit reluctant to ask, but eager at the same time; I asked anyway. "Axel?"

"Hmm?" He looked my way, eyes relaxed and ears open. I stammered, still hesitant as I could feel my heart race in beating jumps. "U-uhm, do y-you remember back when we first met?" I averted towards the ground, avoiding his surprising gaze as I continued, "and you said that nobodies can't feel emotions and that they just pretend? Do you think that J-Jian and Arata, were only pretending to be happy to see me?"

This conversation felt intense even though it was only me talking right now, it got my hands clammy from the silence that neither of us spoke, me, waiting to hear Axel's point of view. My throat felt clogged. After a moment or two, Axel finally spoke, sounding a bit unsure himself.

"Well, it depends on the 'nobody'. We nobodies pretend to feel emotion because we miss how it feels, and we would remember how it feels given the right situation at hand." My brows were lowered as I finally looked up at him, his eyes on mine in a sympathetic manner, his arms now at his sides. "Your friends, I know they missed you- I mean, nobodies can only do so much in trying to show even the little bit of emotion, trying to be something were not, but at least we try."

"Uh-huh," I nodded.

"I know they did there best in showing that they care about you, so don't worry otherwise," he paused, tapping his forehead, "got it memorized?"

"Hmmm, I guess you're right," I agreed, turning away in thought. 'Poor Jian and Arata, losing the feeling of emotion and having to pretend to show the emotions that they miss…but they really proven themselves to me when I saw there smiling faces, looking so real and enthusiastic…'

After taking that all in, I smiled, feeling myself in happy spirits from that contemplating thought. My eyes closed. 'I know they miss me…and I know they do try…'

"Thanks Axel."

"Sure, no prob…" I opened my eyes, looking at the fields once more to see taller crops of vegetation; cobs of corn rooted on my right and grass of brown grain on my left, swaying by the winds pace. My eyes scanned hard enough to even spot a person or two hiding in the crops of corn in-between the long empty spaces that the plants would make for themselves, doing whatever a farmer would do I guess. 'Mmmm, I guess were getting close…'bout time.'

I looked at the grass of grain and then to Axel. "We almost at the town?"

"Yeah, it's up ahead see?" he pointed his finger, having my head turn. I realized that the road we were on was a trail, leading into a town where buildings were visible, opposite each other, leaving the road in the center to continue down to wherever it ended. My eyes also landed upon the top of the side of a white house, far on the left of us where the grain of grass was blocking my view of the bottom portion of it. The brown dirtied terrain reappeared on my right, but this time the crops were smashed up in pot holes and crooked lines, almost like they were destroyed by something or someone, leaving the crops unproductive as it stretched in all directions, only stopping at the town's façade. My face frowned from the sight of it. 'Man what happened here? Someone mess up their crops...weather perhaps?'

I turned back to Axel, not wanting to get his view on it, but to give a statement that I've been thinking about. His hands were back behind his head for the millionth time. I grinned. "Y'know for a nobody, you seem to express emotions pretty well," I said, getting his head to face me, a bit startled as he eyed me with green ample eyes. He seemed puzzled, not saying anything, but letting his arms down once again, his lips twisted as he gazed to the left and then back at me. "Hmmm…you really think so?"

"Yeah," my voice sounding enthusiastic, but, in its own cool state. I looked back at the almost ending road, finally seeing the white house that was actually a white barn, growing what appeared to be grapes on crossed stakes in rows where a few people was standing in, plucking the crops. I looked down, continuing my sentence. "I mean, that's how I feel, from my time with you and all…it's impressive."

"Impressive? Like a dog trick?"

My eyes widened, shooting back up at him as I waved my hands in assertiveness. "No-No! That's not what I mean-" He interrupted me in a laugh, his hands probing over me as to settle me down. "'Kay-kay calm down! I was just messing with you…" I stopped my mild panic, realizing that Axel was just playing with me as I felt myself become a bit warm of embarrassment.

"Oh…" My head dropped, avoiding eye contact. "Well, y-you're really good with that emotion thing that you do."

I looked back up at him to see him grinning at me, one that was appealing in charm. I covered my mouth as I giggled, feeling a bit meek. "See, that smile is definitely a real one. I'm telling you, you got emotions…" He waved his hand at me as he turned away, humbling himself as he denied my statement. "Ah, I do not…"

"Yes you do Axel, I'm telling you, you probably don't even realize it." He sighed in a chuckle, shaking his head as he looked ahead. "Whatever you say Miss Emotion Expert."

"Heh, heh…" I giggled, starting to take my cloak off so my choking clothes could get some air, taking my backpack off first.

"And you're probably right though, they do feel real…"

Holding my cloak in my arms, I threw my backpack on my back. "Ah, perhaps they are, meaning you have defied nature, making you a special nobody."

"Heh, I'm far from special I tell you…"

"Ugh, stop it with the pessimism already."

We finally stopped at the entrance of town where people were walking about with their usual activities. One person entering this store and this person entering that store, almost like they were all in a routine into shopping at the medium sized stores all there life. No one seemed to take notice of us standing in the center of the entrance, probably a few stares, but none that was that very much lasting as they continued on. "Well, were not going to get much done if we just stand here doing nothing."

I looked up at him as he continued. "We have to do what the Greeks do." My brows contorted at his statement. "Ah, sounds like something you should've said at the other world." He looked away in a chuckle. "Hmm, perhaps so."

As I looked away from him, my chest began to feel achy for some reason. I gasped in wonder as I brought my hand up to touch it, wondering why it felt weird. It wasn't a painful, hurtful feeling, it didn't even seem like it was my chest at all, but my heart…it felt sad. My brows lowered from the sudden emotion. 'How can I feel my heart like this? At first I wasn't sad, but now I'm sad all of a sudden? My chest isn't hurting, but my heart feels sad…weird.'

By then, I heard Axel call my name, which sounded far away for some reason like he was ahead of me. I brought my head up, seeing Axel; he was indeed a few feet from me. He motioned me to come on with him, gesturing his hand in a backward forward motion. "Come one, there's no time to daydream now!" I nodded, bringing my hand down as I walked up to him. His eyes watched me as if he was that dependent on me being with him, well it felt that way as I stopped in front of him, gazing down at the ground; my stomach hurt.

"Hey, you okay there?" he asked.

My head shook. "No, not really…" I said looking up at him, placing my hand on my stomach. He lifted his head up in the air with a sigh, putting his hands on his hips, cocking his short eye brows at me. "'Kay, what did I do this time?" My head shook again. "Nothing Axel, I'm just hungry and tired…sad…"

"Sad?" He crossed his arms, "sad about what exactly?"

My shoulders rose and fell. "I don't know, I just started feeling sad," I snapped my fingers, "just like that."

"Just like that huh?" His head tilted to the side in thought. "Hmm…well maybe you're subconsciously thinking about something that's making you sad, so stop thinking of it subconsciously."

"I'm not thinking of anything subconsciously Axel!" my voice rose, avoiding Axel's eyes as my head dropped to look at my burgundy colored shoes. I sighed. "Let's just get something to eat first…" I then heard Axel give a sigh, having me look up, his hands on his hips while his eyes were closed. "Okay, maybe that's what you need, food." His bright green eyes opened, a grin appearing on his face. "Come on you party-pooper, it's either that or an emotional sad girl thing," he said, turning around as he gestured his arm up to follow him. I ignored his comment, following him in a droopy manner.

Axel soon found vendor that sold chicken noodle soup on the side street along the left side of the road. I didn't realize how long the town's road really was; it curved and turned, making other roads along its edges towards other crops and homes, all the way until it ended in a straight line, back into the fields on the other side of town. Axel and I ate the soup that he bought for both of us, sitting on a free woodened bench by a little toy store, where children kept running in with their mommies. I swear I could've choke on that soup; the flavors were rich and fresh, almost as if it was just picked from the crops in mighty vegetables and chicken bits, that and because I was just really hungry. Well, I almost choked; Axel had to hit my back from choking on the juice that went down the wrong way. As I ate, I looked back at the different people and their form of dress. A lot of the older women were wearing long brown skirts with flower like designs or patterns with long sleeve cloth shirts on and some brown garden boots, while some of younger like women were wearing either a long skirt or short short's in different colors or jumpsuits, jeans, tank tops or any other shirt you could think of, also in brown boots, flip-flops or tennis shoes. A lot of the guys were all mostly wearing blue jeans and white T-Shirts, jumpsuits, sweat shirts, polo's, also in worn-out boots or tennis shoes.

"Okay, let's get going to seeing if your sibling's here," Axel said breaking my gaze. "Oh, alright."

We both stood up at the same time, holding our bowels in our hands. Axel went to throws our foam bowels in a nearby trash can, coming back to me afterward. My eyes felt heavy as I watched him stop in from me. My ears heard him say something, but I couldn't compute his words. It seemed like the sun was staring to descend from the sky to form a new sunset. Now that I noticed, how come the sunset in Twilight Town didn't ever go away to make a blue night for its world? Isn't that a little sad? Just then, Axel's voice was starting to get through to my ears in constant repetitions, waking me up from my unstable conscious state.

"Deonna, Deonna!"

Axel snapped his fingers in my face, blinking my eyes. "Anyone there? We got to get going now…" I touched my temple as I shook my head in a quirk, tilting my head as I looked up at him. He was leaning in front of me with his hands on his hips in a very prying manner, his brow cocked. I ignored the closed space with a frown. "Axel, I'm going to seriously fall out right now…" He smirked, leaning off of my space. "Yeah, it sure does look like it."

He walked pass me, suddenly realizing that he smelled a bit like smoke as my nose wrinkled. 'Is that his scent? Why haven't I realized it before?' Guess it's because I'm so used to it. I followed his direction with my eye; he stopped a few inches from my stance, turning to look at me. His smirk never left his face, the one that couldn't be erased no matter what I said to have him do the opposite. "Just know this, if you do fall out, you're not getting on my back."

My eyes glowered at him. Ohhh I felt like slapping him about now. "What? That's mean Axel! What if I really did?" I said, crossing my arms at my chest. He copied my posture; the only difference was in our facial expressions. "Then don't expect me to be your pick-up truck."

"Geez Axel, I know you're not that un-" I was interrupted, my body being pushed to the left by what felt like a bony person. "Ah!" I yelped stumbling from the lost balance the person took from me, clutching my knees, looking up in alarm. It was a brown haired boy in a striped polo-shirt and brown baggy shorts, staring back at me with wide hazel eyes; he looked surprised himself, stuttering an apology. "Uhm, I-I'm sorry!" he said, his body froze in the walking position with his body turned to me. He appeared younger than me, probably a pre-teen by the way his body type looked.

"Hey watch yourself! You saw her there didn't you!" Axel barked, strolling closer to us than before. I raised myself upright as the boy turned back to face a piqued Axel. He seemed to cower in front of Axel's intimidating tall body; he was probably like a tower to him. "Uh, I said I was sorry…" Axel then crossed his arms, cocking a brow at him like a teacher would at school if the student got in trouble. Well, he pretty much filled the teacher student thing really well. "Well, you wouldn't have to have had to apologize if you were watching where you were going right?" The boy didn't say anything, his head just dropped in shame.

My grin was faint as I came into the conversation. "Axel it's alright," I said, going up to him to touch his arm, "It was just an accident you know."

"Hugh, Kale what you do now?" a low husky voice grunted. It came from behind, making me turn in that direction, my eyes falling on a tall pale skinned boy with long black hair to mark his appearance as a ghost. 'Ohh wow…' I thought, surpassing to say it out loud. The brown haired boy turned around, seeing the pale boys troubled eyes. "Uh, I kind of bumped into her…" he said, pointing at me. "Ahem, it's impolite to point you know," Axel said as he stepped forward. The pale boy shook his head, his hand touching his forehead like he was stressed. His hand fell as he spoke, his head lowered to the ground. "Sorry about this, I'm sure he apologized?" He looked up at me, his eyes squinting. "Yeah he did, no biggie," I replied with a grin. "Good let's go Kale," he said rather quickly, stepping pass us as the boy named 'Kale' followed, a puppy following his master. Kale turned back, waving at us. "Nice meeting you!" I huffed a laugh as they disappeared in the orange-lit street.

Axel stepped up, his hands rested on his hips as he looked back at the direction those two boys left to. "I don't know about you, but that black haired dude has some serious issues," Axel said.

"Hmm, perhaps so."

"I mean, didn't you see how he looked, looking like the grim reaper at sunset, chasing after a boy in the middle of the street, what he going to do kill him with his eyes?"

Right now, my senses were perked back up to normal, almost though, where I didn't feel all that tired anymore from that weird encounter. "Axel?" I looked up at him. "Let's get started, I'm not that tired anymore." He looked down at me, smirking. "Ah, 'bout time your outta gloomville. Maybe you should bump into people more often." I didn't say anything as Axel scratched his head, searching around with his eyes at the remaining people present. "Well, lets hurry up before everyone sleeps for the day huh?" "Yeah, lets'." I smiled.

* * *

After that, we decided to split up, going in this direction and that direction; this way, that way. Anywhere my instinct told me to go, just like the instincts of an alpha wolf, even though I was a little nervous talking to total strangers I didn't even know, who lived in a different world than mine. The sky was starting to weaken in its red-orangey colors of dusk, replacing the colors with mid-night blue in the higher atmosphere, trying to settle down on the land to get rid of the light blue counterpart below it. The people were starting to depart from the streets; the street lights coming on too early, showing the way back to the multiple edges of the road for people to return to. I was beginning to feel tuckered out, good thing I found Axel in a store window on my right, appearing as if he was scanning a comic magazine right in front of me from the inside of the store. My mood intensified, turning from tiredness to build up anger that rose slowly. 'Ohhh Axel you…'

After what felt like a moment, Axel turned in my direction, his eyes going wide in shock at the first look at my body posture and facial expression. I was about to explode. The magazine dropped from his hands as he ran out of the store, almost tripping as he ran up to me, a frantic look on his face. "Uh, Deonna I was looking honest!" I growled as my fist clenched, tightening, wondering what other excuse he was going to say. "Deonna I was seriously looking for your sis, I- something just caught my eye in this store that's all!" he said, waving his hands at me. I crossed my arms as my legs shifted. "Mmm-hmm, alright Axel…" He sighed, scratching his head. "Sheesh, stop giving me that face! I was just looking at that thing for like three minutes!" I heaved a sigh, closing my eyes and opening them back up to look at him. Unexpectedly, I let this silly dispute pass, speaking as if not be bothered, yet with tiredness. "Alright Axel…"

"Huh?" He looked confused, like he wasn't expecting this unwavering reaction from me. "You're not upset?" My eyes closed as my head shook. "Just a little irritated…" He huffed, appearing like the house cat that just ate the pet mouse. "Huh…kay let's look some more." I opened my eyes, the light across the street flickering in and out over a cracked bench that seemed as old as these buildings. I pretty much felt like sitting down on that giant free seat, but surpassed the urge.

"Of course," I began as I stepped past him, my holding hands behind my back as I walked. "With the spirit of my heart…"

"Spirit of your heart?" Axel asked, strolling behind me.

I turned slightly back. "Yeah, the spirit of my heart."

"Hmm, that's new, what's that mean?"

"Oh, I'm just going to follow what my hearts says, y'know a girl intuition you wouldn't understand."

"Hmph, I think that applies for both genders…"

"Whatever…" That awakening I had days ago started to come back to me. I never told Axel about it, not knowing whether to follow it or not because it seemed so much like a dream, like the ones I was having before. I was never the one to believe visions or make-believe scenes that appeared when you sleep, but…how did it appear in my mind just now? I felt my brows furrow in thought. 'Mmm, let's see, boy whose name means 'key'-no mean 'sky' right? Hmm, maybe I'll ask Axel…'

We stepped onto another road that had a plantation with a little house on the other side, separated from the gray line. The sun was finally on edge, leaving the stars to sparkle with a new moon that was about to get recognition. Axel was on my left about now, so I turned in his direction. "Axel, you know a boy whose name means 'sky'?"

"Eh, what?" he asked, his dark green eyes dotting down on me. "What made you figure I would know something like that?"

"Uh, forget that-uhm- how about a boy who has brown hair and blue eyes?" He looked away in a hum, his brows pressed in thought. "Hmmm…well yeah, a few even, but why you ask?"

Am I crazy or am I crazy? Of course he might've known a lot of guys with brown hair and blue eyes, and like he'll know this boy in particular who I'm talking about, who happened to appear in a dream. 'Was it a dream anyway?' I looked away, sighing with that thought. "Ah, forget it, just dreamt of a guy with brown hair and blue eyes that's all…" He chuckled, then a laugh muffled from his lips. "Deonna you're crazy."

"Please don't remind me…" I also didn't want to ask about the person referred to as the 'key'. That probably would've just hit the top off.

The crickets sung with each other, broadcasting their own rhythm band in the now moon-lit night in the stiff grass. Another house came into view on our left, a crop bed right next to it where the moon shone grey light on top of the whole area. My eyes were heavy, gazing up at the ball in the sky as we walked farther, not really knowing where we were walking to anymore. 'Man I'm tired…where are we going to sleep? It's better to search in the daylight anyway…' We walked a little further pass that house, finding another road on our right where a few buildings were in view, right at the start. It probably led right back to town; what a lifesaver. "Axel? Where are we going to sleep?"

Before I could hear him answer, a voice startled the peace. "Ah! Someone help-Ah!"

"Huh? Who?" Both Axel and me jumped, turning our heads in all directions for the voice.

"Ah!"

My head spun towards the shout, finding it on the far left of us near a building where a shadow cast prevented me from seeing any objects on its side. My brows furrowed, my adrenaline pumping with the use of my reserved energy.

"This way Axel!"

"Yeah I know!"

We both ran towards the uncanny side of the building, summoning both our weapons as we stopped in the engulfing shadow. My eyes squinted, trying to adjust to the shadowy area, looking for the helpless person that could be injured. Up ahead, I saw creatures the size of wild pigs crawling on the ground, huddling next or on top of each other like they were climbing on something or someone. My eyes widened. 'Someone?'

"Come on those got to be heartless up there!" Axel ran ahead of me while I followed suit. The dark creatures turned to our path, forgetting all about their main prey just now, which just ran away behind the building. "What the-what kinda heartless are these!" Axel said, stopping in front of me.

"What should you know!"

"Unfortunately, not these…"

The heartless were spider like creatures, black and sinister in appearance with red streaks on its six long legs with yellow eyes and a slanted line on its face like a smile, a heartless symbol embedded on top; five in all. My heart jumped from the sight of them, a lump settling in my throat. "Oh crap…" I hate spiders.

"It's all right, they don't look to tough!" Axel yelled, running up to one as he smashed one with his fire blazed weapon. A few went at Axel while the others came at me.

"Ah!" I yelped, but shook my head to stay focused, my brows furrowed as I got in stance. 'Bastards…'

I threw my bag on the ground by a building on my right. Pushing that tiny phobia aside, I advanced at one who was eyeing me as it crawled. I attacked it, slashing and striking it with my weapon. It couldn't claw me that much with its legs or its sharp teeth, which made me feel superior as it, was just about to give in. A pulling sticky feeling was on my right arm, preventing me from hitting the spider heartless.

"What?" My teeth gritted as I turned to the right; another heartless with web out of its end attached to my arm, strong and sticky enough to overcome my strength. 'Oh great!' I tried pulling my arm, but the other one I was just attacking started biting my leg. "Ah!" That bite kicked my reflexes into gear, my other leg kicking the spider heartless away from me. Surprisingly, it vanished, a heart floating into the sky. Ignoring the pain in my leg, I threw my blade into my other hand, casting a blizzard at the other heartless. It squealed from the coldness at the web disappeared from my arm. My brows were stitched as I grasped a potion, pouring it on my leg. The pain just about disappeared as I started to attack the heartless, hoping it would fade away with just a few strikes. I didn't stop hitting it until it I saw a heart float to the sky. The breeze from the wind had me realize I was sweating on my forehead, panting for air as I turned to see how Axel was holding out. Just then, needles struck my back, making me fall to the ground on my hands.

"Nngh!" Knowing it was a heartless; I threw my blade upward, pounding what was on my back with it backwards like a hammer. The heartless squirmed as it got off. I jumped up, spun around and struck it even harder than before for it to go away. "Die already!" My wish was granted, a heart floating up to the sky. I wiped my head as I turned to where Axel was. He was just down to the last one. He struck it once more until it vanished into the night for a heart to escape to. "Whew…" I breathed, walking up to Axel who was hunched on his knees, huffing for air.

"Not to tough huh?" I mocked, standing in front of Axel with a smirk. "Yeah… they were easy, just difficult…uh be quiet…" Axel said in between huffs, his head hanging low. I giggled a laugh as I brought my hands behind my head. "Well, at least there gone, but how about that person?" Axel finally stood up. "Uh, he ran away like a coward."

"I'm sure you would've done the same thing Axel if you didn't have any powers." Just then, a voice called out in optimism.

"Ah, yes! You guys saved me!"

We both turned in the direction of the voice, a boy running up to us from behind the building in the dark. My brows twisted at his upcoming face. 'Wait is that-?' If it were daytime, you would've figured right away that he had brown hair and hazel eyes, but in the dark, everything about his features was darkened. "Remember me from earlier?" the boy said as he halted in front of us.

"Ah, I remember you, the one who bumped into missy here," Axel said, pointing at me with his thumb. The boy smiled widely like he just won a prize. "Yeah, it's Kale!"

I stepped up to him. "Are you alright?" I asked in concern. His expression turned to sadness as he narrowed his eyes down at the ground. "Yeah…good thing you guys came this way when you did…I could've been a goner if it weren't for you two…"

"Yeah that would've been a shame," Axel said, his arms crossed at his chest. "Should you be at home at this time anyway kid?" Kale huffed as he shook his head and then up and down. "Yeah I know that…" He looked up smiling weakly. "But, since you guys saved me, I just got to introduce you guys to my parents!"

"Huh?" Both Axel and me said in a chant. Axel waved his hands at him as his head shook. "Uh, it's alright, don't need to do that-"

"No you guys got to meet them, they would even give you guys a place to sleep if you need it!" Then there was silence from Axel, his head gazing up at the starry filled sky; I knew he was thinking about Kale's offer. Axel finally spoke, scratching his head as he answered. "Uh, well since you mention that, I guess we could meet your folks." After Axel's answer, Kale just busted into excitement. "Ah I knew you guys wouldn't turn that down, I mean I've never even seen you guys before so you all probably didn't have place to sleep to begin with!"

"Hmm, how observant of you…" I said. Kale grinned at me as he started walking to the side of us, heading back in the direction of the road where we just came from. "The house this way, so follow me!" he shouted as he waved his arm in the air. "Sheesh don't talk to loud!" Axel bickered, following Kale from behind. My watery eyes watched them walk away, my legs feeling unmoving as I sat on the ground from fatigue. I wiped my face, finally hearing Axel's voice up ahead.

"Deonna why you sittin down!"

I looked up; Axel was walking up to me while Kale turned back, running pass Axel.

"What's wrong Deonna?" Kale hunched on his knees in my face. My head dropped, sounding sullen as I spoke. "I feel too tired to move now…"

"Huh? To tired?" Axel asked.

"Maybe you should carry her," Kale said, referring to Axel. I looked back up with my brows furrowed. "Axel said he wouldn't do that though…" I looked away, "jerk…"

"Well I'll carry you then!" Kale offered. I turned back at him with a faint grin. "Really? Thanks but…I don't think you're strong enough to even do that." Axel chuckled, coming into the conversation, his arms at a cross. "Yeah, she'll probably crush you man…"

"Axel shut up!" I yelled, Kale backing away from my shout. I got up off the ground, shouldering Axel as I marched pass him. "Hmph, I don't need you to carry me anyway!" I then heard Axel mumble something. I turned back to him, but tripped on the ground with my hands flailing in the air. "Ah ouch!"

My nose hurt as I used my hands to get up, feeling dirt on my face as I tried to wipe it off. What's more embarrassing than telling a guy off, then tripping as you walk away on nothing! "Deonna you okay!" I heard Kale asked, his hurried steps sounding off on the dry dirt. Before I could answer, strong hands picked me up nonchalantly, almost with ease in bridal style. "Huh?" My eyes landed on Axel's face, which was really close to mine, his breathing misting on my skin as he walked, holding me in his arms. I stammered as I felt my face flush. "Uh-uhm Axel w-what are you-"

"Be quiet and don't say anything kay?" he said, avoiding my eyes. "Uh…" It was really hard to tell that Axel's face was a bit pink in the dark. I held a grin, hesitantly placing my arms around his neck. I heard him grunt, looking at me then back ahead. 'Man is this awkward or what?'

"Wow," Kale began as he got in front of us. I even noticed he was carrying my backpack on his back. "Are you guys a couple or something?" My head turned in embarrassment as I shouted at Kale. "No!" both Axel and me shouted in unison.

"He's too much of a weenie!"

"She's to much of an annoyance-double the dosage of a women!" I turned back at Axel with my brow cocked. "What?"

He sighed, avoiding my gaze once more. "Did I tell you to be quiet?"

We soon made it back to the gloomy road, stopping at the house that we passed earlier just before we made the turn into town.

"Alright this is it!" Kale said as he ran up the steps, banging on the white door like a policemen. "Hello! Open up!" Kale shouted at the door as Axel carried me up to the final step. My eyes timidly looked at Axel, who probably noticed my face directed at his. "Axel, you can put me down know…"

"Hmm? Oh alright…" Just before he could do just that, the door opened with the inner light of the house shining out onto the porch.

"Kale where have you been?" A familiar voice asked. It finally opened all the way, revealing the same guy from earlier with the ghostly pale skin.

* * *

**Author's note: How is it so far? The world is kinda slow, but that's how it is in some country places right?**

**Ohh~ Deonna and Axel were so close this time ^^ Aww...Axel can be sweet when he wants to be huh?**

***Edit* ****It's going to take me a while to update since I've been studying for finals for the last two weeks and catching up on school work. I should have it up by the end of this week or sooner^^ Be patient please~ 1/30/11**

**Reviews are my motivation, pleases do so T-T**


	13. Long Days:Part 1

** Soo sorry it took my so long to update T-T School and finals were to blame for my story's absence, but I hope this makes up for it ^^**

**This is ubber long, but I always go over than what I wanted at first, almost all the time, so I hope you like this chap anyway. By the way, the romance will come soon, just be patient because I got a plot ^.~ Everything will fall into place as the story progresses; can't rush a good story right? But their is something in here that you might like ^^**

_**(Disclaimer: Look in first chapter)  
**_

* * *

**A Long Day**

Axel forgot what he was about to do concerning my little wish, but instead we found both of ourselves staring at the blue eyed pale boy who we encountered earlier. His right long black bang covering his right eye, only showing the other filled with what appeared to be scorn like we were the bird poop on the porch. My eyes were ample in unexpected surprise from his presence, then, his narrowed eyes turned to Kale on side of us, speaking in a stern, husky voice.

"Kale why are these people here?"

Axel huffed, directing my attention to him and back at the pale boy. "Hah, nice to meet you to chirpy," Axel mocked in sarcasm. "Hmm…" the pale boy said, eyeing Axel and then back at Kale, waiting for an answer. One would have figured that he didn't want Axel and me to come in the house. But what if we didn't want that in the first place?

'Hmph, so much for the hospitality…'

You could hear the sadness in Kale's voice from the pale boy's actions towards us as he gave a reply, wailing his arms in a pleading gesture. "Keesh don't be like that to my friends who just helped me out just now."

"Friends? You mean the ones who you knocked over in the street earlier?"

Kale grunted. "Geez, yeah and now there my friends," he paused, "and they need a place to sleep for the night," he said, sounding like his request wouldn't get a good outcome. Keesh's jaw clenched, his head tilting to the side on the doorpost as his expression turned into one of drowse. "Did you leave your brain in the trashcan again or are you just crazy?"

My brows went in spirals as my mouth dropped in a little gasp, astonished from this guy's churlish mannerism. I looked and even saw Axel's mouth partly opened, his brows pinched together. "That's so cheeky man," Axel remarked. Keesh didn't even blink his stare from Kale, totally ignoring Axel's comment. My body began to feel warmer in Axel's arms like his body temperature has risen, having me want to shift my legs uncomfortably, but couldn't. Keesh sighed, continuing his vague talk with Kale. "You know mom and dad wouldn't like this anyway…"

Axel groaned as he split the dead conversation. "Eh, I know when were not wanted, we don't need to stay here anyway."

"What!" both Kale and me cried, our heads turning to stare at an offended Axel. There was no way I was going to sleep in the wilderness when I could get a free bed's sleep at a house like this. I would've begged Axel not to give in to that cold-hearted creature, but Kale seemed rather desperate with his own begging streak towards Keesh, hunching his back over in pleas. "But-" Kale began, but was interrupted by a worried shout coming from inside the house.

"Kizuka, who's at the door?" a woman said as I heard paced footsteps forming creaks on the inside floor.

'Kizuka?'

"Is it Kale?" the woman asked. Keesh turned his body to the side while Kale peered inside of the gap of the door where Keesh stood. 'Kizuka must be Keesh's real name, and this is there mom?'

"Uh, there mom?" I mumbled aloud as I stared at the door, waiting for it to open all the way. "How'd you figure?" Axel mocked. Kizuka spoke again as he pulled the door open with his body still turned, talking to who must have been his mother. "Yeah, Kale's back," he turned back at us with his mother in our eye of view, "with some friends."

Standing in the doorway was a lightly tanned woman in a flowered up robe, auburn hair in thick curls, and hazel eyes that could've peered through you in desperation, blocking out the interior lighting of the house. She crossed her arms as if to be cold, smiling a greeting at us before speaking. "Ah, and who is this?"

Kale began before Kizuka could say anything, sounding a bit happier in tone, almost jumping as he stood in front of her. "Mom, this is Deonna and Axel. They both helped me out tonight."

"Oh?" She looked at us from Kale, beaming a genuine smile. "Nice to meat you Axel and Deonna," she said, slightly bowing her head. I hid the sleepiness in my voice as I smiled back with a "hi", while Axel did the same, only giving her a hint of his own weariness. "Ah, nice to meet you to ma'am."

'Wow that was so polite of him.'

"So," Keesh said, turning all our heads at him, almost forgetting he was there in a heartbeat. "How did they help you exactly Kale? What? Did they save you from a heartless by any chance?" he scoffed, crossing his arms as he leaned on the doorpost. My eyes widened as I surpassed a laugh, looking at Axel who had a smirk on his face with his eyes on me as well. 'Oh man, the irony!'

Kale faced Kizuka, fired in smugness as he placed his hands in fists on his hips. "For a matter of fact dark streak, they did save me from heartless!"

Kizuka's eyes popped from his squinting while their mom's eyebrows rose. "Huh?" they both said. Kizuka leaned off the doorpost, skepticism in his speech. "You know I wasn't serious right? Quite playing and tell us what really happened."

"Look at my face," Kale said, pointing at his visage, which showed a silly stupid expression with one eye smaller than the other, "do I look like I'm playing?" I shook as I surpassed a laugh. "Yeah, you heard him, he's dead serious," Axel said. Kale then turned to his mother who started to brag about our victorious win. "Oh mom you should've saw them! They both smashed them up with the most awesome weapons I've ever seen! Axel had one that went on fire and Deonna had a key like sword that defeated a heartless in just a few hits!"

"Oh really?" their mom said as her eyes went wide, covering her mouth in disbelief. "Oh, you saved my son from those creatures?"

"Yeah, you heard the boy," Axel responded. "Oh my gosh, you're not hurt dear are you?" she said, coming up to me. "Me? I'm just fine, just a little tired that's all," I reassured her. She then went back and opened the door for us to enter. "Please do come in, any friends of Kale is welcome here," she said, smiling. "Oh great," Axel said tiredly, "thank you miss." As Axel went inside, I looked at Kizuka who appeared upset, staring at the interior of the home with his arms crossed. My brows furrowed at him as we passed him. 'Such a mean guy…'

The brightness called upon the colored caramel wall and flower paintings that hung from them. There were two couches on the sides of the walls that made something like a right angle to each other, a visible kitchen opposite of us where you could see a door in the back, a staircase on the northern wall, and a rabbit cage next to a closet door on my right. Axel finally put me down when I asked him to a second time. I don't know but I think he liked holding me; sometimes it's hard to know what's on his mind, but he seems to care about my well being, either that or he just felt obligated. The mother told Kizuka to fix the couches for us to sleep on. Anyone could have seen he was unwilling to do so, but did it anyway with only a minimum of complaints.

Meanwhile, I went over to where the rabbit was by the wall; it was a medium sized black rabbit, sniffing up at me from inside the bared cage. For the rabbit, I smiled at its cuteness and stress reliving outward show it displayed as I knelt down to feel closer to it. Just then, it started licking its puny paws to wash its chubby cheeks and rub it ears clean. I could have squealed. "I thought you liked dogs," Axel said, standing on my side, hunched over to see the little fur ball. "For your information, I like all animals," I said. "Yeah, how about the last animals we fought?" I chuckled. "Yeah right, those were the scum to the planet."

I began to wonder what he thought of the rabbit; would he say it was cute or not? Grinning, I turned my head up at him, pointing at the rabbit that started to eat from its bowel. "Don'tcha think she's cute?"

His brows rose at me then at the rabbit, covering his mouth as he cleared his throat. "Well, uh, yeah I guess…" He then stood up straight while I stared back at the rabbit. "But how you know it's a girl?"

Obviously to know whether it was a girl or vice versa, I had to see under its private area. I intently watched it go from one side of the cage to the other, scooping in it multi-colored bedding. I finally found my answer as my brows sunk. "Eh, it's a boy…" He chuckled. "And how do you know that?" I looked back up at him, his arms crossing each other with that stupid smirk on his face. Showing I was not in the mood, I replied, "Axel, don't push it." He then started laughing as I shook my head, tittering a bit myself.

"Okay your beds are ready!" Kale shouted, causing both Axel and me to jump. I stood back up while Axel complained once more as he walked towards the sofa on the right wall, sitting on his couch as he groused. "Have you ever heard of the sentence, 'Silence is golden'?"

"Ha! All my life!" Kale responded. Every ear in this house could've heard this firecracker. I groaned, irritated by how loud he was. "Kale shut up!" Kizuka hollered from the kitchen. "You can't tell me to shut up!" Kale yelled back, going up to the corner of the empty doorpost that lead to the kitchen. I dragged my feet towards the sofa that was perpendicular to Axels couch, and crashed on top of the bed sheets and comfy pillows that was for my use. My feet kicked my shoes off before my body began to shake, then looking for my bag that sat below me on the polished woodened floor. I entirely forgot I packed a scarf in my bags pocket for my hair; don't want my hair to fall out or anything right? I took a red scarf from the bag and tied my hair up, trying to ignore the constant noise in the house by the two brothers arguing.

Axel had a pillow on top of his face as his body faced the ceiling, like the pillow would stop him from hearing the noise. The mother finally stopped them as she came from up the stairs, threatening that they should behave or else they won't get any apple or blueberry pie on the day of some kind of festival. She then came up to Axel and me, asking if we wanted anything, but it was too late for me, because I have just then fallen asleep.

* * *

My eyes fluttered open, yawning as I rubbed my eyes to get rid of the crust in my eyelids. Groggily I sat upright on my butt, peering down at the floor as I rubbed my eyes once more, just trying to wake up from my bittersweet sleep. It wasn't that the sofa wasn't comfortable; it sure was better than that stoned boulder back at the coliseum. Another weird dream disrupted my sleepy state last night. That stupid ugly man was there, taunting me, chasing me in a white endless hallway where there were thousands of doors to enter, but not to escape to. He was there in every single one with that sinister smile of his. My brows furrowed, turning towards the window on my right, the soft sunlight peering through the transparent curtain that draped the windowpane, the orange light streaking the floor in a heavenly setting. I shook my head, staring down at my feet as I saw my bag still in its restful place, but a metal silver ornament right beside it. My eyes squinted even more as I reached to pick it up. 'Huh…where this come from…' It felt a tad bit heavy in my palm; a metallic symbol of the outline of a diamond with a long chain dangling at the other end off my hand. My eyes were in a daze, almost forgetting about the dream I had. "This isn't mine is it?" I asked myself. I've never seen it before so I sure knew it wasn't mine, probably the family's wares.

My head swung up at the other couch, wondering what Axel thought of it. To my undoubtedly surprise, Axel's figure was absent to my sight, leaving me a bit wide eyed. "Hmmm where did he go now?" I said, groaning with a heavy sigh. With ornament in hand, I stood up on my two feet, my leg muscles in a slow waking up motion as I went by Axel's couch, setting my hand on its wide arm, wondering what I should now. Then, it finally struck me; the scent of pancakes stuck my nose like a lighting bolt coming from the kitchen. My lips smiled as my eyes closed, a familiar sensation I experienced from life's past. 'Mmm…just like old times with my family…'

Small footsteps coming from the stairs woke my eyes open, swallowing as I clenched the ornament in my hand.

"Whew…" a familiar voice said. My body softened when I saw it was Axel coming in view; his face looked in my direction, appearing happy and at ease with himself. I placed my hands on my hips, my eye squinting in thought. 'What was he doing up those stairs?'

"Oh, hey Deonna," he began as he made it to the last step, grinning at me, "how ya sleep?" He walked up to me before I could answer. "Uh, I slept okay…"

Axel seemed a bit different this morning; his skin glowed with a pleasing smell billowing his body while his cute smile complimented his relaxed face. He appeared, pristine in a sense. "Yeah everyone in this house knew you slept great, with all that snoring that you did," Axel teased, crossing his arms with a smirk. My head shook as I could feel my body become warm, my arms tensely resting at my sides. "I don't snore Axel."

"Hmm, and how do you know that when you can't even hear yourself?" he said with shoulders slumped towards me. Before I could retort, he shot his hands up in surrender. "I was just playing D, chill." My face softened as he gave me a reassured smile, scratching his head as he replied, "But I did hear and see you squirming in your sleep." My eyes grew open as he continued. "I had to shake you a few times to make you stop." My heart throbbed as I nodded, eyeing at the floor. "Oh, I don't remember you waking me up." I looked back up at him. "But anyway, why were you upstairs?"

He then gave me a goofy grin. "Well, this guy finally took a shower, feeling clean like a spruced up shoe," he said, pointing at himself with his thumb. I sputtered a laugh from his corny statement. "What?" he asked. I smiled once more as I gently hit his arm. "That sounded so silly Axel. You're just the man of clichés." He chuckled sheepishly as he looked away, a small blush on his cheeks. My body then turned towards the empty doorpost that led to the kitchen, wondering who was in there making breakfast.

"Mrs. Dean," Axel said, leaning on the edge of the post, "breakfasts ready?" I went alongside side him to see who was in the kitchen; Kizuka was at the stove flipping a brown pancake while the mother was preparing six plates at a well furnished table, a white table cloth clothing it. The kitchen was nice and clean, also with apple and fruit patterns on the pink walls in fluent decoration.

"Ah, yes breakfast is ready," she said, looking from the table at us, smiling genuinely.

'Mmm, I guess I should call her Mrs. Dean then.'

I smiled back. "Uhm Mrs. Dean?" I asked, catching her attention as I stepped inside, "you don't mind if I take a shower do you?" She was putting scrambled and flipped-over eggs on a few plates before I asked, but stopped as she looked up at me. "Of course you can sweetie, how 'bout after breakfast hmm?"

"Sure, I can do that." Kizuka peered back at me curiously, but turned back around without even saying one hello. My face tensed, my lip feeling dry. I wasn't going to stand for people not talking to me in their own home, especially Kizuka. He might've been evil but I didn't care. He should treat his guest accordingly. I tried not to fake a smile as I waved behind his back. "'Morning Kizuka." He didn't turn around but replied with a, "Hi…" I smirked as I went back to Axel at his side, feeling victorious. "Wow you made the loner speak," Axel whispered. I nudged him as he chuckled. "Shut up Axel."

We began to eat breakfast after Kale and 's husband came in from the back door, doing something in their backyard that ended them up in a dirty state. They cleaned themselves up before eating though, which was good to me because I wouldn't feel comfortable eating at a table where their faces were stained in dirt and shirts spotted with grass stains and all that junk. As I ate the cheesy salt-n-pepper eggs, lightly brown pancake and cool delicious applesauce on my flower patterned plate, I learned that this town was an urban harvesting city, where almost everyone had crops to plant, to harvest and to sell in town. Mrs. Dean says that the town can be very prosperous when there is nothing interfering in its food production. It came to my attention that there were heartless in the town, destroying the town crops for their own gain for a few months. They didn't know what caused the increase of the heartless population in town, but they figured that it had something to do with the plants in the ground, because that's where there normally at most of the time; corrupting the crops and taking the hearts of the harvesters. Planters are even afraid to go in their fields of crop because of this. Listening to her and Mr. Dean filled my heart with pity and sympathy for them and the city; it really sucks for them. And what made me feel very bad for them was that every year, they celebrated the harvest they reaped over the year and turn it into a festival of dances and fun at night time, just under a harvest moon. This festival took place tomorrow, and it seemed they wouldn't be able to do it because of the disaster the heartless put upon the town. But the only way they would be able to do it was if the heartless wouldn't mess up this day of remaining crops still present all over. It pretty much brought me to the realization that that was the reason why those crops in the beginning of town were so corrupted in holes and bruises. Even Axel seemed a bit disturbed from the story of the town, sitting beside me as he fiddled with his last remaining scrambled eggs. Then they hit us with the biggest question of all.

"So where you all from?" Mrs. Dean began with a smile, resting her head on her forehand while dangling a syrupy fork in the other, "never seen you two here before."

"Uh," I stammered, eyeing Axel with a turn to see his expression. "Uh, were…"

"Were from out of town," Axel took over, waving his hand, "'way' out of town."

"Oh really?" Mr. Dean asked as he gulped some water. "Yeah, we both just decided to drop in this area for a while," Axel resumed nonchalantly.

"So, you mean from a different world?" We all turned towards Kizuka who sat at the far end of the table, his eyes squinting as he waited for his answer. This is the first time he spoke at the table, which was to everyone's surprise when he finally uttered a word. I looked back at Axel, wondering what he was going to say as my leg began to bounce. 'Should we tell?'

Axel smirked at him. "Heh, how'd you figure?" Kale swallowed some applesauce before shouting in excitement, "You guys are from another world!" His brows were raised with a wide grin on his face like he just discovered a treasure map. "Y-Yeah we are," I said, wanting to be part of the conversation now. "You all know of the other worlds or something?"

"Yeah we do, as well as a few others in town," Mrs. Dean said, "but we try not to tell a lot of people, or else they'll get suspicious in wanting to go to the other worlds," Mr. Dean said, finishing her sentence. I nodded. "Oh…"

'Hmm, like what happened on Destiny islands in the past huh?'

"So why you guys here anyway?" Kizuka asked. "Were here looking for her sis, going to the different worlds 'till she's found," Axel answered for me. "Wow, so like, you guys are going to 'all' the worlds until you guys find her?" Kale asked in wonder. I gulped. "Uh…"

"We'll do what we can until she's found," Axel reassured them. "Oh my dear," Mrs. Dean sympathized, putting a hand on her chest, "I'm soo sorry to hear that." I grinned faintly, glancing at her with my brows curved. "It's okay, thank you. Her names Dawn and she almost looks like me, just that her hairs straight down at her shoulders. Have you seen anyone like that here?"

Mrs. Dean hummed, eyeing her husband to think with her. "Well, we can look around town and stuff if you want to," Kale suggested. We all looked at him. I couldn't hold my smile from anyone now. "Alright, let's do that afterwards Kale," I said. I then faced back at Mrs. Dean. "You don't mind if I shower now do you Mrs. Dean?" She waved her hand at me to go. "Oh sure dear, the bathroom upstairs is down a little hallway, and to your left."

"Great, thank you," I said, scooting from the table with my chair and walking towards the living room. I noticed Mrs. Dean took my plate and hers to place in the sink; I went and grabbed my backpack.

Mrs. Dean came out and told me to follow her upstairs. We went down the hallway up the staircase and into the little bathroom, where she got me a few things to wash up with. I almost forgot of the metallic ornament I had and asked her was it hers. She denied it was hers and told me to ask the others when I was done. I then took my shower; washing my hair, face and brushing my teeth in it to; it always felt good to feel clean when you're on an adventure, especially like mine, and then you smell like watermelon afterwards. When I got out to dry, I put on the body butter and fixed my hair differently this time; instead of setting my pony tail up, I put it down in the back, leaving the leave-in conditioner and some grease to keep it moisten, and used my fingers tips to curl my sides burns in little spirals. The only thing that was now dirty was my clothes, which I was unwilling to put on; a clean body and dirty clothes don't mix; the only thing that I had clean was the underwear I packed in my backpack.

When I went back downstairs, I found Axel on his couch, appearing sleep in the form of a nap; he was lying at the other end where I could see his face, his head on his hand like a cushion, even though he was resting on a pillow anyway. I giggled, walked past him to the other couch and put my bag on it, forcing my scarf in its pocket. "Axel?" I whispered, waiting for him to answer if he wasn't sleep, rubbing my neck from the drips of water rolling down my neck. 'Hmm, guess he really is sleeping this time.' I crept up to him, hunching on my knees and whispered again. "Axel?" He still didn't respond, just breathed softly in his sleep. I was in a daze, finding myself gazing upon his features as he rested like a little child.

His face was clear of any flaws and seemed soft when he was still of no movement at all; even though those purple marks on his cheeks made him look devious, you could see behind those that there was more to what meets the eye, a very caring guy. I started to feel a little warm, smiling to myself at him. I can see why Jian almost fell for him, but she always does that with guys who appears cute to begin with.

'Mmm, he is handsome…and cute to…does he… HOLD ON WAIT A MINUTE!' I straightened myself up feeling stiff, scratching my head as I shook it at the same time. 'Wait a second Deonna, wait a sec…what am I doing? Am I acting like a pervert over him now? I'm not even a pervert to begin with…' I glanced down at him then away at the wall. 'No, I don't like him…I don't! Cute yes, but still…I don't even know how old he is anyway… but why does that matter…'

I sighed, having one more look at him, then having my feet to walk me away to the kitchen, my whole body hot and hyped-up like I came out of a sauna.

As I wiped and rubbed my face from that nervous encounter with a sleeping Axel, I decided to go outside through the back door to see how it was outside, something to change my thoughts. I stood in the screen door, observing the backyard; Kizuka and Kale was on the back patio, watching there parents in the fields of their backyard, reaping the remaining plants they had to use for the celebration that could go sour. My eyes could see that their crops were a little messed up in the process of their plucking; the long green toppings of the vegetables signaling me that they were scattered in different places than the other, while the filled in potholes let anyone know there was altered terrain in the area.

I swallowed, pushing open the screen door while hearing the screech sound, making Kizuka and Kale turn heads at me; Kizuka was wearing the same turtleneck and dark blue jeans and Kale was wearing a blue jumpsuit.

"Hmm…" Kizuka moaned, eyeing me with his blue clear eye as he crossed his arms, while Kale just grinned at me, sitting on the dirty darkened porch playing checkers with oversized black and red checker pawns, whish seemed like he was playing all by himself.

'Whoa checkers? Haven't seen that game in ages…'

"Hey Deonna, wanna play checkers with me?" I smiled at him, kneeling across from him by the wide clothed checker board. "Sure, but I have to say I 'haven't played this game in a while," I reassured him. "Great, that means I'll be able to kick your butt!"

"Hmm, I'll take you up for the challenge," I said with an intense smirking. "You seem to be a worthy opponent," he said as we placed our checkers on our sides, "Keesh is too chicken to play-"

"Shut up Kale…" Kizuka grunted. Kale looked up at him then back down at the game. "Hmph!" We both played checkers for a while before Mr. Dean called Kale to help him in the fields, while Mrs. Dean went pass Kizuka and me into the house, fanning herself from the heat, which I honestly felt exasperating from her body. So now it was just Kizuka and me sitting on the porch, listening to the wind try to go through one of our ears and out the other, save the sun's light and heat trying to burn through the deck's roof over our heads, silently admiring the hard work of the Deans working on their gain in the fields. It felt good sitting on the porch in this warm relaxing setting, but it was hard to share it with a person who seemed emotionless. 'Ugh, I wish Axel would get up already…maybe I should wake him up now anyway…'

My head drifted towards the decorated potted flower pots of different colors, surrounded by crumbs of dirt on the far right side of the elongated patio. 'Hmm, lets see theses babies…' I got up off my butt and started towards the flowers, just until I heard Kizuka's voice call me. "So Deonna, you like this world?"

My feet halted as I turned, not as fast I would normally do though, staring at him with stiff brows. His arms were still crossed, waiting for me to reply. "U-Uh, yeah, I like this world…"

His black long sleeve turtleneck and long dark straight hair was making me feel hot. How could he wear that in this type of weather?

"Hmm…" he tilted his head to the side, his black bang trying to drape his left eye, "even better than your own?" My brows twisted at his weird, contradicting question. This supposed to be tranquil setting was turning into a hard, pointed rock to sit on. This time, my lips faked a grin as I replied, "well, both are very pretty to the eye, but seeing the sunset on the ocean can't really top this to my taste." He grunted, shifting his legs as he looked away towards crops. I heard him mumble something, which I asked to know what he said. He glanced at me then back. "Nothing important…'

"Hmmm," I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ornament to show it to him, "well, have you seen this before? Is it yours?" His head turned back to me then at my hand that held the silver jewel as I stepped closer to him. He shook his head no, turning back around. "No, never seen it in my life."

"You sure, I found it by the couch and I-"

"No," he interrupted in a monotonous voice, "I already said it wasn't mine." His tone got harsher. "So quite bugging me about it and bug Kale." He then looked at me, his brows slightly arched as he stepped past me into the house, the screen door screeching as it hardly closed by itself. My lips felt dry as I was left wide eyed.

"Oookay…"

'Geez someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, is it always like this for this guy?' I huffed a sigh, turning my body around with my hands behind my back to see Kale running up to me.

"Man, I hope we'll be able to do it tomorrow…" He stopped on the second step up as he looked at me, breathing as he sweated down his face and neck like he was greased all over, a little dirty from the garden work out. My lips pursed as I held my arms across my chest. "I hope you guys are able to do it Kale, sorry about the heartless, but…"

'Maybe there's something I can do about it.'

His hazel eyes bulged like a puppy, begging for a treat. "Hmm but what?"

"Mmm, I don't know, but maybe…since Axel and I are here, maybe we could…"

"We could what?" My sentence paused from hearing that man's voice. "Hmmm?" His gloved hand rested on my head like days of old. My brows sunk as I muffled a groan. My head spun around to peer up at Axel with his brow raised, curiosity in his face of what I was about to say. My expression showed irritation as I replied, "I was just saying maybe you and me could help the town out with the heartless or something."

"Oh?"

"Yeah 'oh'," I turned back to Kale, "well I don't know about you. But I'm going to help this town out with or without your help Axel, you can nap the whole day while I just get stronger."

"Wow, you saying that just makes me want to fight alongside with you."

"Wait a minute, you mean you guys are going to get rid of the heartless for us?" Kale asked, his brows crooked in shock. Axel sighed before speaking, "Yeah might as well since it looks like she's already made up her mind, and who knows, she might need me to carry her again later." I narrowed my eyes at him with my body turned slightly, him giving me a goofy smirk. I rolled my eyes, turning away with a small grin. "Pervert…"

"Ah don't start with that again."

Kale ran pass us into the door, shouting from inside the kitchen. "I'll be right back! Goin' to wash up and come with ya!"

"What?" I muttered. 'Come with us? Is that a bad idea?'

* * *

A few minutes past by until Kale met with us in the front of the house. By this time I asked him was the ornament I found his; he denied as well. "It's not mine, just keep it Deonna." I nodded. "All right, thanks," I said putting it back in my pocket. Kale stepped down to the bottom step and turned to look at us, waving his arm in the air in a signal. "Come follow me guys! I know the first place to go!" With that, we followed him out of the housing district.

The grass appeared to leap from the ground, moving to and fro under the bright sunlight's radiance. It was a soft wind my damp hair and skin felt as we strolled farther and farther away from Kale's house, the mild breeze keeping me hyped in coolness. We passed the first house Axel and me saw yesterday on the beginning of the road, three people working on their plants of crop on the side of their house in long straw hats and jumpsuits avoiding the suns exposure. Kale was in front of us in the lead, his hands pressed behind his head as he hummed a tune while Axel was on my right. My head turned to Axel, asking him a question. "Axel? What will happen if you're in the sun for too long?"

He looked at me. "One word: Sunburn…" My expression pinched like I was hurt. "Ouch…that sucks…" He didn't reply, but I decided to carry on the conversation, looking away from him and ahead at the road. "Hmm, guess the sun loves you so much that it just want to give you a mark of its own…" I turned back to look at him with a grin, my hands behind my back as he stared at me with a blank expression like I was bore. "Are you trying to be funny, because if you are you failed." I grimaced, hitting his arm as he rubbed it afterwards with chuckles. "What? I just want this silence to end!"

"And it just did!" Kale exclaimed as he stopped, searching the now apparent tall corn crops on the left of us. My eyes blinked as he checked the area like a squirrel would do looking for nuts. I didn't realize it but he was actually quiet this whole way through until now. 'Hmmm, at least he can keep his mouth shut when there's people around him.' Kale pushed inside yelling, "Come on this way…" Kale directed, speed walking into the corn fields, where there was of little majority to pass through. Axel went before me behind Kale, the corn stalks almost hitting me whenever Axel moved one to the side, which irritated me greatly because now I was beginning to feel hot. Axel then spoke to me. "You ready for this?"

"Yeah…" We finally stopped in the middle of a big gap where no tall stalks stood next to each other, a big clearing where there was only dead yellowed pale grass. "Hmmm…this it?" I asked. Kale knelt down in the center of the clearing while Axel stood next to him; I went to the center with them, trying to see what they were observing. Just then, my heart felt weak, making me feel a bit nauseous in the stomach as I patted my belly.

"I-I think this is it guys," Kale said as I started to put my cloak on from my backpack. "Hmmm," Axel began as he knelt down next to him. "What is it? The grass?"

I almost agreed with him until my eyes saw a change of air around Axel and Kale, like streaks of a gaseous substance was mingling from out of the grass. My hand wiped my forehead, my breathing growing harder as my stomach churned. There backs were to me as they kept kneeling down until Axel pointed something out that I felt was plausible. "Hey, there is something here…wait," he then stood up straight, stomping his foot on the spot, moved to another area, repeating the same thing. "Hmmm…" he brought his hand to his chin as his eyes became small.

"What is it Axel?" Kale asked.

Axel went back to the center, removing some grass from the spot. "There's something here…I can feel it," Axel responded like he was a detective finding a clue. "Yeah Axel do you see that stuff coming out of the ground?" I said going up to him. He stood back up, his arms spread out in a position I've seen him do many times. "Stand back…"

His weapons appeared in flames in his hands as I walked backwards away from him. "Cool…" Kale gawked, running up to the side of me as Axel started tearing the ground in flamed sharp slashes. Kale and me continued to stare at Axel until he finished digging up his little discovery in the ground; purple-blistered bumps poking out of the dirt as he continued to dig it out further.

'What the heck is that?'

Kale spoke my thought in disbelief, though his tone was much louder than mine. "What the heck is that?"

I swallowed, keeping my eyes on the purple bumps that become a whole pie of it, the dirt and grass falling from its corners while some stayed in the cracks. 'Heartless?'

By then, Axel began to attack the purple thing with his weapons when he was able to see it in total view, but stopped in mid-strike, turning at us as he breathed heavily. "Ya'll come here, you need to know this," Axel commanded, his weapons vanishing in his hands. We followed through, standing next to him on his sides. The purple object pulsed like a heartbeat; its hues of purple echoing like a rainbow across its many giant blisters. "You guys take mental notes now because you see that?" Axel pointed, "that's a Shadow Glob, and it attracts different kinds of heartless to the world it's trying to be part of."

"Oh," Kale gaped. "Mmmm…that's different," I looked up at Axel, "so…could that be the reason why there's heartless in the city?" Kale brought his head from Axel's side to peer at me, his eyes in wonder, then at Axel, waiting for him to answer. Axel grinned at me, setting his hands on his hips. "Wow does someone deserve a prize," Axel praised. I grinned, as I looked away at the purple heartless, feeling myself blush in the cheeks. "But, there's something different about this glob," Axel continued, "likes its been mutated or something…"

"Can a heartless mutate?" I asked, looking up at him. He scratched his head in thought. "Maybe they can…but we can't leave this here," he glanced at me saying, "Deonna, finish it off…" Axel told me as he stepped back while Kale did the same. I looked back at them, then at the still heartless which appeared motionless in it devious tactics. My hand tingled, calling my own weapon to spare. My blade went at it, finishing what Axel started. It finally vanished after three strikes as its dark substance went into the air, releasing no heart.

"Alright good job," Axel began while Kale just cheered like a little boy winning a baseball ball tournament. I turned around with a smile about to send my blade away. "Wow! Wow! Deonna, can I see your weapon," Kale asked as he ran up to me, eyeing my Keyblade like a treat. "Uh…sure…"

I handed it to him; he grasped it, but acted like it was too heavy for him to carry in one hand. The blade was in the dirt while the handle was still in his hand, trying to lift it up in the air. "Heh, your so scrawny boy," I teased. "I'm not scrawny, that's just how I appear," he said, finally lifting it with both of his hands.

Suddenly, my ears heard noises close by our stance that I've familiar myself with. I looked from Kale to see Possessors and Scarlet Tangos around us. "Uh great," Axel said, his weapons coming into his hands while his brows furrowed, "Kale get out of here now!"

"Uh…" Kale stammered as he spun his head in all directions, afraid of what to do. I took my blade in sparkles from his hands, and hit a Possessor that was about to jump on Kale; it flew away in the air countering in with my strike. "Kale, beat it before they get you!" I yelled, striking a Scarlet Tango before it threw a fireball at me.

Kale was a Praying Mantis, still as stone until he finally ran out of the battle zone. That made our job a lot easier, killing the heartless was a piece of cake, and there wasn't that much of them. I could tell I've gotten stronger; all that training did pay off, making me more proud of what I can achieve in this town. When we were done, we searched for Kale out of the stalks and out near the road; he wasn't there. My breathing got heavier as I worried for Kale's sake. "Great, where'd he go now?" I asked Axel, staring at him as I saw his forehead oily in sweat. "We did tell him to hide," Axel answered, scratching his head with no clue in his mind.

We both then heard Kale's voice. "I'm here guys!" Kale popped out of the stalks on the other side of the road, running up to us, as he appeared to be out of breath. "Uh, I-I'm sorry for not moving w-when ya'll told me to," his head dropped with downcast eyes, "I was just…"

"It's alright, know harm done, you were just scared that's all," Axel said with understanding, having Kale look up in surprise. I put my hands behind my back, smiling at Axel's kindness and forgiveness towards Kale. Axel saw me staring at him, making him appear doubtful and embarrassed. "What? Stop staring at me!" My hand reached my mouth as I giggled. "You're freaking me out!" Axel said excitedly as he started to walk away, his face red all over. "Ha ha!" I laughed as Kale and me ran up to Axel.

Kale took us to another place where a plantation was on scene growing Pea plants and Cabbage. Kale told us there be heartless in this area, so we all searched for the main source; surprisingly I found it on the side of the big house that owned the crops. Wherever those boys were, I yelled for them so that they could hear that I found it, but just then, a few heartless came up behind me. They were those spiders heartless, about three of them this time. I took them out myself, but Axel jumped in to help out while Kale hid behind the corner, cheering for us quietly. After that, I destroyed the Shadow Glob.

We then went somewhere else, closer to the shops but not in the shopping district where the people were and found a few Heartless and Shadow Globs nesting in the shadows. We got rid of them, hardly breaking a sweat. Then we went this way and that way, here and there; I was starting to feel tired of this, but I did volunteer right? Axel's body even began to feel dragged, complaining about wanting to take a nap. People saw us taking out the heartless, cheering us in 'oohs' and 'awes' like we were from a circus. It did bother me that I was being watched by the people who started following us like stalkers. I didn't want the attention and so didn't Axel, who tried to figure out a way to get rid of the crowd. Kale, on the other hand embraced it, bragging about us being his friend and how cool we were.

As irritated as I was, I would've slapped him, but I couldn't even do that since I wasn't a violent person, so I just let Axel take care of Kale who threatened we would ditch him and leave him alone when the heartless came up; Axel was partly joking, but Kale took him serious and stopped encouraging the people to follow them and told them to go away, which hardly even worked. Kale took us to one more place, which was the entrance into and out of town, walking near the messed up crops I've seen before entering the city. Axel found the Shadow Glob that was buried in a pothole and destroyed it. That was all the places Kale took us to, which was a relief to both of us because we were tired. We went back to town while the little crowd of people still followed us, stalking us like lions and tigresses. There were people walking about, staring at the crowd and at us, wondering what we were all doing.

I turned to Axel who looked annoyed in the face, telling him what I was about to do as I ignored the crowed eyes. "Axel, I'm going to go into that store over there alright?" I said, pointing at a glass widow across the street from us that sold clothes where teenagers were coming in and out of. Axel stopped walking, making me stop with him, totally forgetting that Kale was walking further and further away from us up ahead. "Eh? You're going to shop?" Axel asked looking at me, hearing doubtfulness in his voice. "Do you got any munny?"

I grinned. "Yeah, all those heartless be dropping some neat stuff y'know?"

'And maybe somehow I could lose the people following me by going into the store…'

Axel turned his body at me as he crossed his arms, eyeing me up and down. My brows twisted, crossing my arms as well. "What?" Axel shook his head, smirking as he licked his dry lips. "Yeah, you definitely need more clothes because those are dirty, like you were bathing in mud." I groaned and gave him an evil eye.

'Yeah, I guess they're that bad, but I was hot in that cloak…'

Axel sighed, tiredness in his voice as he walked past me saying, "I'll come with you to, I doubt the store manager would allow stalkers in his store…" I grinned even more as I followed him, entering the little clothing store.

There were a few people in the shop searching the racks for different shirts and pants, going to the changing rooms, paying for their selected wear at the register, talking to others they just met or already knew. The atmosphere was better than being outside where the weird people were giving us owl eyes through the window view outside. Axel chuckled at them, amused by their persistence. "Pfft, freaks…"

"Oh really?" I began, flipping my hands through a few clothes. "I can almost recall you doing the same thing to me." I turned my head at him with a tilt to see his body tensed standing on the side of me, stiff at my statement before replying, "Shut up…"

"Hmph, you can't tell an adult to shut up," I giggled, giving my full attention back to the clothes. "Yeah? You're not even an adult yet missy."

"Oh, yes I am, I saw the calendar in the kitchen and it's my birthday today," I said, boasting without even realizing it. Axel didn't say anything after that, so I looked back at him to see his arms crossed, a nice sweet smile on his face. "Wow time flies, at first you were seventeen and now you're eighteen…"

"Ha ha!" I laughed, "you're beginning to sound like you raised me yourself."

"Heh, I practically am am I?" I rolled my eyes at him as my head shook, grinning as I walked away to another rack on my right.

"Well congrats, want me to get you anything?"

"Mmm, well…" I began, eyeing a white colored turtleneck, "I don't really care if you do or not…" I then looked at him then away when I saw how confused he was.

"Hmmm? Why don't you care?"

"Well, people should give presents through out the year, not just on birthdays or Christmas. Its like an obligation or something to me…like they have to even if they don't want to…" I swallowed, rubbing my neck as I watched two adult women go by. "Hmmm…that's an interesting view…" I avoided Axel's face, finding some really cute black cargo pants. Axel then said something that interested me. "Deonna wait right here, I'll be right back," Axel said, making me turn to see him walking out of the store.

'Huh? Where's he going now…oh wow, the people are following him…'

It was mostly the teenage or young adult women following him who made me feel a bit on edge. The guys were looking at me like dogs on a toy ball, which I grimaced at, bringing my eyes back on the girls and Axel. 'Stupid girls, got nothing better to do than to stalk a cute tall guy…' My eyes widened, slapping my forehead at my idiocy. 'Great there I go again about Axel…what's wrong with me…?'

I groaned, watching Axel exit out of my sight along with his stalker wannabe friends. I turned back to the rack, going to another one, beginning to feel infuriated as I clutched a red V-neck, wrinkling it up.

My mind couldn't hardly focus as I began to wonder what did Axel thought about those girls; they were pretty enough for him, but it's not always about looks, that I knew. 'Am I pretty to him though?'

My heart raced at the thought. 'Oh no…what does this mean?' I shook my head, rubbing my face. 'No no! Why do I care anyway! I don't like him at all! I don't! Hmph, besides, Axel doesn't even seem interested in them…'

Remembering how Axel reacted earlier to the crowd and the girls made me feel almost better, until I turned my head at the window and saw how the girls were all over him, trying to touch his hair and his cloak as he tried to get into the store while he was yelling at them to leave him alone. My heart stopped as my body went limp. 'Oh my gosh! Perverts!'

I ran up to the door to save him. I really had an urge to yell in the store, but that would've been soo embarrassing. Before I made it to the door, the store manager went to the entrance before me out of nowhere, calling off the stalking cult to exit the area around his store. Axel finally came in, exhausted and red all over in anger or in blush, while Kale came in behind him; we totally forgot all about Kale. Axel looked back at the window with his brows arched, annoyed with what just happened to him before I spoke. "Man, that looked really bad. What were they doing molesting you?" I asked in concern, partly joking at the same time.

Axel turned to me, his nostrils puffed as he breathed, his bows droopy in weariness. "I think they were," Kale said, making us all glance at him stupidly. 'What?" he asked crossing his arms. Axel rolled his eyes at him, finally looking at me. "There animals I tell yea, crazy psychos who have hormonal unbalances," Axel said rather calmly than expected.

"Yeah, that's what I call complicated," I mocked with a chuckled. Axel shook his head unamused, making me go silent as I rubbed my arm. 'Bad time huh?'

Axel continued, "And those guy who kept staring at you…" he shook his head once more, "their dogs, stay away from them."

"Heh, it's alright, I know how to take care of myself," I said with a smirk, crossing my arms, "I'm not stupid."

Axel's cool expression turned into a warm one, smiling at me as he brought his hand from behind his back, which I just took notice of right now. "Yeah, I know your not…" Out came a blue wide Popsicle from behind his back, and another in his other hand. "Hey is that…?" I pointed as Axel handed one to me. "Yeah, Sea-salt ice cream. Got it memorized?" I took it from his hand, licking the cold Popsicle for a tasty salty taste. "See, I can give you anything throughout the year, you just wait," Axel said, smirking with his mouth on the top of his Popsicle, winking at me. I grinned as I licked my lips from the ice cream, my eyes falling to the blue patterned carpet to avoid his gaze.

"Hey! I'm going to get one to!" Kale said, speeding out the door. Axel and me both shook our head, laughing afterwards since we were thinking the same action.

"Hey Axel, I'm going to get these…" I said, taking his hand, directing him to the rack I was before he left. When we made it to the clothes, I pulled out ones I liked the best; the white short sleeved turtleneck and the black cargo pants. I held them both in my one free hand for Axel to see while I licked on my ice cream with the other. "See? Whada'ya think?" I asked with a smack.

Axel sucked on his ice cream, leaving it in his mouth to take the clothes by the hangers for examination. His brows rose as he hummed. "Hmmm…thay lool nice," he muffled, still with the Popsicle in his mouth. I smiled as I grabbed them from his hand. "Good thanks." My head spun towards the changing rooms, wondering should I try them on before buying them. I turned back to Axel to see him gazing at me interestingly, licking his treat like he was waiting for me to say something else to him. "Uhm, I'm going to try these on Axel, so can you my hold bag?" His shoulders shrugged, tilting his head as he agreed. "Yeah, sure…" I gave it to him as I rushed towards the changing rooms on the eastward wall, still with the half-eaten Popsicle in mouth and clothes in hand.

My eye spotted a free one where a few chairs was opposite to it, but that was how all them were; I entered that one. It took me no time at all to change since I couldn't wait to see how they looked on me, even managing to keep the clothes unstained by my Popsicle with cautiousness. As soon as I had them on, I darted myself to the door mirror, finally finishing off my treat with a bite. My eyes resting on the other person in the streak-cleaned mirror, I beamed myself a smile, satisfied with what I had on to show in front of Axel…oh and Kale. A white short-sleeved turtle neck, complementing the black four-pocket Cargo pants with a design zipper above the hem on the left leg; I looked so cool…well that was just how I felt, which was a good thought to think about yourself anyway.

I turned to my side in profile, holding my stomach in to get a good view of my backside; I smiled even more, seeing how well it went with my shape from this view; my mother gave my sister and me 'back' and hips, saying how it made us or any body with a nice butt look good in the clothes, and I had to admit I had it alright.

My body then turned and twisted in different angles until I heard Axel from out of the stall. "Stop admiring yourself and get out here already!" Axel said not too loudly, just outside of my door for me to hear.

I groaned as I rubbed my hair back, touching my curly tips nervously. My hands reached for my other clothes that sat lumped on the bench to my left and opened the stall doorknob rather slowly, swallowing hard as my head poked out. Axel and Kale were sitting on the chairs, Kale eating his Sea-salt ice cream, boredom in their expressions until they saw my head out of the door. I grinned sheepishly when I saw Axel smiling at me, forcing myself to come out with my old clothes behind my back. Both of their eyes went big when I spun around, showing off my clothing to them in a boasting fashion. "So, what you guys think?" I asked, placing my hand on my hip with a stop, "do I look cool or what?"

Axel stood up off the chair, his eyes admiring my physique as I tried hiding how mortified I was by him. Axel grinned at me with his brow raised about to say something but Kale cut in, jumping up from his chair. "That's really nice on you Deonna, sorta different from the girls style here," Kale complimented, sucking on his Popsicle with a cheesy grin. "Yeah, I like your style D," Axel said smirking, patting my shoulder. I covered my mouth, giggling to myself with shyness. "Thanks guys…"

Behind Axel's chair, my eye spotted a rack that sold sunglasses, making me smile menacingly. "Hmmm?" Axel moaned as he looked behind him to see what I was staring at, but I already walked passed him towards the rack. A small black pair of sunglasses grew interest in me, having my hand reach for that dazzling pair of wear and put it over my eyes. Everything was darkened in my view as I turned back around, finding Axel and Kale behind me; Axel was staring at me with a smirk on his lips. I shot him a smug grin, posing with my arms crossed like I was all that, trying to look 'cool'.

"Don't hate 'cause I'm cool yo…" I joked, trying to keep my face in a stoic, cool expression.

Kale busted up laughing; almost dropping his half-eaten ice cream while Axel gaped at me with wide eyes, his mouth partly open in a smile. "Oh!" Axel's eyebrows rose in surprise as he crossed his arms at his chest, "so you must think you're cooler than me huh?"

"Heh…I know I am."

* * *

**Author's note: **

_** * You got designer shades,**_  
_** just to hide your face and **_  
_** you wear them around like **_  
_** you're cooler than me.**_  
_** and you never say hey,**_  
_** or remember my name.**_  
_** its probably cuz, **_  
**_ you think you're cooler than me*_**

**_I like that song soo much ^^_**

**_Just a thought, but I was wondering do you guys like the long chapters or not? If so than I'll feel more comfortable when I make a chapter that's longer than expected ^^_**

**_Review please 3  
_**


	14. Long Days:Part 2

**I should have the next chap up this Friday or Saturday, or hopefully sooner ^^**

**They don't really go anywhere in this, but this chapter is pretty important though**

_**Disclaimer:(Look in first chapter)**_

* * *

**A Tailing Tail**

After my silly talk was over, I bought the clothes I picked out to wear to replace my old attire. But I also wanted a pair of cool fingerless gloves to match them; Axel bought those for me, which was great of him to do, but now I have to find a way to repay him back for getting me the stuff he got for me today, even though he didn't ask. When we were done with my shopping, all three of us went back to Kale's house, but not before Axel could get another Sea-salt ice cream, acting like it was such a delicacy to find in this puny town.

The sun was moving steadily towards the west horizon, lowering the temperature to a not-too-hot sensation that was left clothed on your skin, contrast to how it felt earlier today. When we made it to the house, all of us landed on top of something that we felt was a need to our drained bodies; the couches and the floor, falling our butts on them like bullets on a target.

"Uh…" I muttered, my eyes blinking shut from staring at the fading ceiling, my body vaguely weak in its different parts. "Soo…tired…"

"Mmm…" Axel moaned, his booted-feet up on the arm of the other end of the couch, as he lied down, sucking on his Popsicle in few smacks.

"Man what a day…" Kale began, his voice sounding dreary, yet with a pitch of bliss in his voice, "can't wait to tell my folks what we did today." He then huffed a chuckle. "Can't wait to see Keeshes face when I tell him…" The corners of my mouth formed a slight smile as I thought with him, wondering indeed what Kizuka would think.

"Heh, I bet he would be like 'Ah, why would I care huh?'" Axel snickered, his voice mimicking a deep stupid voice he came up with that sounded nothing like Kizuka's. Both Kale and Axel laughed while I just giggled to myself. My body turned sideways, finally lying on my left side to see Kale's relaxed head bent back on the edge of Axel's couch in a relaxing manner and Axel's hand dangling an empty Popsicle stick off his couch, his face gawking up at the ceiling. As I lied there, glancing at the closet across from me, the rabbit cage and the staircase, I began to think about putting on the clothes I bought. Might as well since I bought them and to show off right? With that, I reluctantly sat back up, grabbed my bag and the shopping bag, and headed towards the sloped stairs to ascend to.

"Hey where you going?" Axel asked. "Hmm what you think, to put these on genius," I answered, looking back as I rattled the shopping bag in the air at him. He just grinned, turning his head back at the ceiling in comfort with his hands behind his head. I then went up the stairs to go in the bathroom and change. When I came out, my body felt fresh, like I just slipped out of the old and in with the new; maybe it was because I was now eighteen, but what did that have to do with me changing my clothes?

'Perhaps its like a new age and new attire thing?' I thought.

"Heh, that's funny Deonna…" I mumbled to myself, walking down the silent four-door hallway toward the beginning of the staircase. When I made it into hearing range on the stairs, it came to me that Axel and Kale were talking about something; Kale was trying to make Axel admit something while Axel was denying it.

"Yes you do!" Kale said. "No I don't!" Axel opposed. I lined my body up with the wall to listen to what they were talking about, blending in with the shadows of the gloomy hallway as if to make myself invincible. "Well I do!" Kale said. My brows arched in thought.

'Do what?'

"Oh do you?" Axel asked as if to be surprised.

"Huh," I sighed, "what are those guys talking about…" I mumbled. 'Hmmm, it probably isn't even important or interesting…I'll just ask them than act like a ear leech.'

With that, my feet pressed onto the stairs, their heads turning my way when I saw them in clear view. "Hey guy's, whaddya talkin' about now?" I asked, letting go of the rail on the last step, showing how interested I was in their little chat with a grin. Axel was sitting upright by now, his arms spread on the back edges of the couch with his legs sprawled out in a relaxed state, while Kale was on his knees, his head turned at me, nervousness in his features. 'What the heck were they talking about?'

Axel waved his hand, brushing it off saying, "Oh, nothing but guy talk that you wouldn't understand…"

"Hmph!" I whipped my nose at him, steadily walking towards my couch to sit on, setting my bags on the ground. "Well, I bet it was stupid stuff I don't want to know about anyway," I said with a smirk, lying on the couch with my leg overlapping the other with my hand propping my head up. Kale then spoke up.

"Yeah its so bad that you don't even want to imag-"

"Kale that's enough alright…" Axel interrupted, his appalling green eyes sharp in seriousness as he leaned forward at him.

"Pfft…was it that dumb? You guys are so weird," I sneered with a laugh. They didn't say anything, having me feel awkward in the strange sudden silence. "Ooohkay?" I said, shuffling up to lean back on the couch, while Axel leaned back on his couch to look at me, as if waiting to hear me speak. "Well anyway…" I began, "how long are we staying here Axel?"

Kale then looked at me and then at Axel. Before replying, he lied back on his back with his fingers tugged together in interlaces on his stomach, his head tilted to the side as he answered in a tired voice. "I was thinking that we would leave today…"

"Really?" Kale asked in shock. "Yeah, but I've reconsidered it 'cause I'm too tired shoot…" I tittered at the last part of his sentence as Kale crawled up to me looking sad. "Huh? What's wrong Kale?" I asked. He pursed his lips before speaking. "You remember that I would help find your sister today?" He traced his finger along my couch, his downcast eyes following it. "Forgot all about that, sorry…"

I smiled kindly at his sensitiveness, placing my hand on his fluffy head like Axel always do to me. "It's alright Kale don't worry about it…" Axel said, his face looking up at the ceiling, not even realizing he was listening in the first place. "Yeah, besides, Axel and me already searched for her yesterday," I replied. Kale then looked up at me with uncertainty. "And as small as this town is and not even spotting her, she probably isn't even here…" Axel finished.

When Axel said that, it still sort of sucked, knowing that I wasn't going to find her here in this nice, pretty place of a world.

"Well, it still stinks that your sister isn't here though," Kale said. I grinned, rubbing his head. "It's fine Kale, you don't have to worry about me." His cheeks blushed, turning his head away from me at the wall. 'Aw that's cute…'

"Well anyway," Axel said in a loud voice, his body turning towards the inward part of the couch, "I'm going to take a nap now, so you guys don't be too loud alright?"

"Nap?" I asked in surprise, "nap now?"

"What? You're not going to?"

"Naw, not in the middle of the afternoon like this." I then leaned my body towards Kale, wrapping my arm around his head. "I'm going to stay up 'till its dark with Kale, right Kale?" I then gave him a nuggy. I laughed as he tried to squirm out of my grasp.

"Ah stop! That hurts!"

I let my arm off of him, laughing at his embarrassed expression that showed redness on his tanned skin as he rubbed his head "What? Toughen up boy!" I teased. "You kids be quiet sheesh…" Axel complained. "Ha! Kids?" I said, standing up on my feet. "You're the biggest kid of all!"

Axel chuckled. "Who says?"

I crossed my arms at his back with a smirk. "This coming from the guy who eats Sea-salt ice cream like a ten year old?"

"Pfft shut up…"

"Huh fine then, while you take your precious little nap, Kale and me will be outside in the backyard just chillin!" I stepped past Kale who was still sitting on the floor. "Let's go Kale."

"Man what is with you?" I heard Axel mumble, referring to me as Kale followed me out into the kitchen, tittering to myself.

When we made it outside, Kale and me sat on the steps of the porch, gazing at the puffy giant clouds that rolled about in the sea blue sky and the crops of the Dean's family that seemed fixed to some extent of non-ruination. "Mmm what a day…" Kale said, breathing a relaxed moan. "You can say that again…" I replied, lifting my head up to feel a cool breeze rushing pass us.

"But I thought you were tired Deonna," Kale said, having me eye him slightly. "I wasn't expecting you to act so funny in there and stuff, you are fun…"

"Yeah? Well, when I'm in the mood, I have a playful, fun side…a side that you and Axel's only seen…"

"Wow Really?" Kale asked as if to be serious about what I just said. I turned away, laughing at how naïve Kale can be. "Kale I was just kidding."

"Oh."

"But yeah, I'm still tired though, but sitting on the couch for those few minutes helped. But Axel, I think he just likes to sleep…"

"Ha how boring is that?"

"But Axel's cool though. Napping isn't a bad thing," I then turned to him, having his tanned face look attentively at me. "I mean, be in Axel's shoes and imagine what fighting heartless can do to your scrawny tall body…"

Kale then giggled, saying, "I'll rather not imagine." He then turned away, a smile still on his face. I looked with him at the scenery before us; tall pale mountains far in the distance, patterning up with each other in different sizes with the clouds above them, casting shadows from the sun's light in the atmosphere.

It sure was a pretty scene…but could it compare with islands landscape? To find that answer, you would only know with the experiences you have at the time for comparison. It's hard to choose, but it's still good to have a change of scenery, just like Axel said before.

My right hand reached into the pocket of my new pants, pulling out that silver design chain that I've found. My eyes observed it intently in my palm, seeing how the chain reminded me of the chain on my Keyblade. 'Wait a sec…chain…?'

My skin tingled as my eyes went wide, countering that epiphany. "Oh crap!" I shouted, having Kale jump beside me. "What? What?" Kale asked excitedly in my ear. I didn't look at him, but instead, reached my left hand out to feel the sensation of my Keyblade coming forth. The dark, purple-pinkish Keyblade came, bringing both my arm up to see the resemblance of the two different chains. "Hey wait a second," Kale began, "that jewel thing you found must be yours because it looks like that." He pointed at the hanging heart chain, then at the chain in my hand.

My face was contorted, confused at this realization. "W-Well I don't know how I got this," I sputtered, looking down at the outline of a diamond in my hand.

"Well who cares, switch them already!"

"Stop doing that Kale!" I yelled, referring to how loud he was in my almost now dead right ear. He muttered a "sorry" as I replaced the chains to see what would happen. My hand clutched the heart chain, seeing how my Keyblade turned into a sharp silver sword, the fuller growing big towards the other end in a sliced wide arch. Kale jumped up to his feet at its transformation, almost tripping backward at the top step. "Man!" Kale said in awe. "Yeah, I can't believe this either," I agreed.

'Just wait till Axel sees this!'

"Deonna do you know what this means?" Kale asked, placing his shaken hand on my shoulder as I looked into his wide hazel eyes. "If you find more of these, your weapon will be able to change and stuff!"

"Yeah, I sorta already figured that out…" I said with a smile. I then got up, swinging the new blade at invincible objects to see how it felt; it wasn't heavy in my hands, and it was easy to swing unlike my first one, which was sweet. "Hmmm…" my eyes squinted, rising my silver Keyblade in the air. "Alright, this will do just fine." I lowered my blade to the ground, calling it off in sparks. I turned around, seeing Kale giving me a goofy grin as he leaned on the fence of his porch. "Hey lets go tell Axel!" Kale offered. I went up to the steps, stopping as soon as I reached the screen door as I faced Kale.

"No not yet since he's probably sleep." Kale then looked a bit disappointed. "What? I'll just surprise him okay?"

"Mmm, alright then…" Kale said, still thwarted as he followed me in to the house.

When we went in, I saw Mrs. Dean at the table with ingredients cluttered together, food you would make for a meal of people or a whole party of guest. She stopped moving a tray of eggs from the counter when she spotted us observing the Kitchen. "Oh, hey you two. I had no idea you guys were back there," she said, setting the eggs on the table next to a pile of tomatoes with a greeting smile. She was wearing a blue flowery dress this time that could easily get spotted if she wasn't careful with the food.

"Hi Mrs. Dean," I said, waving as I walked up to the edge of the table. "Hey mom what ya doin?" Kale asked, stepping to my side. "Oh, you don't have to ask that question Kale. I'm preparing for the festival tomorrow," she said, saying like it wasn't such a big deal to Kale. "Wow really?" Kale asked in astonishment. "Yeah really, it seems like we will be able to do it this year after all," she said as she placed her arm across her chest while the other overlapped it with her finger to her chin.

"From all the talk from town it seems we got ourselves some mighty heroes hmm?" she said, eyeing me with a sneaky smile. And when she said heroes, she meant Axel and me. "Uh…" I sputtered, feeling my heart beat as I looked away in a shy smile. "Heroin? I…" I began, but was interrupted by Mrs. Dean's approach to me. "Please hun, how 'bout helping me with the food hmm?" I looked at her curiously. "You do know how to cook right?"

"Uh, yeah sure I can," I said, unsure was that the right answer. I did know how to cook somewhat, but baking was what I was good at, but with cooking, I did okay, but making breakfast is easy, but for a dinner? I did fine when reading the directions for a dinner meal though.

"Alright then, let's start cooking dear," she said, walking past me to the close the screen door, reaching for two aprons for both of us that hung from the wall. "Alright thanks…" I said with a smile as I grabbed the white apron, pulling it overhead to tie the strings in the back.

I went to clean my hands over the sink with soap, hearing Kale behind me say, "Better not burn anything," a smirking smile in his voice. "Heh, believe me I don't burn stuff," I said, turning the warm tap water off, "you should go and tell Axel that incase he burns something in that room while he's asleep," I said, turning around in a sly smile to see Kale's horrific face. He then ran in the living room.

'Heh, that boy is soo funny.'

After that, Mrs. Dean and me got busy; we were fixing candy yams, apple pies, vegetable soup, and even two cakes. I couldn't believe that I was helping her with all this; she was a pro and I was not, I was just a novice, but still, I learned a lot of stuff while helping her out in the kitchen that dealt with the preparation of food, stuff I should have learned with my mom when she urged me to help her make dinners. It made me sad, thinking of that while I was boiling the hot water for the soup. Of course I did help her, but I wasn't that into it like I am now. That was just her way of preparing me for my future, and she did all she could before she went away. I'm glad that I'm cooking with Mrs. Dean, but boy, do I wish it were my mom I was cooking with right now… A tear rushed down my face as I chopped an apple up in pieces.

"Deonna, what's wrong?" Mrs. Dean asked seated across from me, stopping her knife from slicing a long carrot, making me look at her. My head shook, rubbing my eyes with my arm with a fake smile on my damp, teary face. "Oh, it's nothing Mrs. Dean, just the onions…" I said, laying my arm back on the table, about to grab the knife to chop some more. "But dear, the onions aren't even open," she said, eyeing the onions that sat inches away from us on my left, partly wrapped in a green plastic bag. "Oh, maybe I'm just really tired that I'm getting teary or something…" I said, trying to cover my little sad fest I was having with myself. "You tired hun, you can stop if you wan-"

"No, it's okay, but thanks." I then smiled at her to not make her worry, sniffling as I continued on to the next apple.

We were done in what felt like hours because I saw that it was dark outside when we were done. I haven't even spotted Kale since he left the kitchen from earlier, or even Axel or Kizuka. Mr. Dean did come in at a few times to taste our tasty unprepared dishes.

* * *

I went in the living-room, hoping Axel was there on his couch, but almost bumped against his chest when he turned a corner at me, making me stand back in a tiny shriek. "Whoa watch out there, wouldn't want to crash down on your butt from this tall guy right here," Axel said, smiling in mischief as he put in hands in the air like to separate our distances.

"Heh, yeah, you're a barbarian alright…" I said, making it sound like an ambiguous meaning as I crossed my arms. Axel then placed his hands in the air in a gesture. "What? I thought you liked tall guys." He then put his hands on his hips, waiting for me to reply. But I hardly couldn't, since that was true.

My body heated up, my throat feeling strained as I stammered. "Uhm, I…how-"

"Heh, you don't need to answer that, it's not even my business anyway, but you could still tell me if you want," he said, placing his ear towards my face, open for me to continue.

"Hmph! It is 'none' of your business," I said, ignoring him as I went around him towards my couch. "Ha! Oh, its alright, because I think I already know the answer," he said, making me halt my steps as I turned my head back around, peering at him nervously. His arms were across his chest, slyly smirking at me as he gave me a wink. I knew my blood pressure rose because my face was burning. "Heh, you need some water? Because you don't look to good…" Axel asked, taking a step towards me.

I turned away, trying to avoid how tense I was by Axel at the moment. "No, just tired that's all…" I progressed my approach and sat on the couch, sitting in a way where I didn't have to look at Axel directly. 'Can't believe he got me like this…so irritating. I know he did that on purpose…'

"Hmm, well, I told ja you shoulda just takin a nap…but nooo, you had to act all silly and hyper just like another little puppy I know…" He then sat down on his couch, having my eyes peer in his direction. "But that was a different you, didn't even know you could act in such a silly way like that."

"Hmph, surprising isn't it?" I said with a grin, not feeling that much anxious anymore. "I'm sure there are some mysterious traits I've never seen you display yet, am I right?" I asked, leaning forward with a menacing expression on my face while he just appeared almost blank. He then gave me a smirk replying, "Hmm, guess we got to wait until those moments come don't we?"

My smile then turned into a frown, my body stiffened from his creepy answer. 'Okay that was just too mysterious…'

My ears then heard foot steps coming from the stairs; down came Kale in blue pajamas with yellow stars embedded on the soft looking cloth. "Ohh, nice pj's," I said with smile. He ignored me as to brush it off, clearing his throat as he opened the closet door, which I realized was not a closet at all when I saw he went inside; it was a room, but the darkness of the room crossed my vision that I couldn't see what was inside. He came out with a small gate and put it in the doorway of the kitchen, as to block something from entering in or out of the living room. 'What is he doing?'

"What cha doing their Kale?" Axel asked, his arms spread out on the edges of the couch. Kale then went to the rabbit cage next to the door where he came out of; bending over to mess with the fence where the black rabbit automatically gave his attention to him. "Just letting Silver out…" Kale answered, the rabbit running out when Kale stood up, watching Silver run from him to the couches where Axel and me sat on.

I smiled as Silver went to Axel's couch in a curious manner, his head up as to sniff him. Axel had a tender look in his eyes, bending over to reach his hand out for the rabbit. "Hey there Silver…" Axel cooed, petting Silver's head for a moment and then letting Silver run around in a circle to make a jump.

"Wow Axel that was soo cute!" I chirped, having Axel stare at me in embarrassment; his face was a little pink now, turning his head towards the ground. "So, was that one of your mysterious features that I was bound to see later on?" I asked, leaning on the arm of my couch in a prying manner. "Shut up…" Axel said in a low voice, looking back up at me with a small shy grin. I smiled at Axel's shyness as I crossed my legs.

"Hey Deonna, I think Silver likes you to," Kale said as he came up to me with a smile. "Hmm?" My eyes darted down at the floor to see Silver trying to get on my couch, sniffing at me with his black paws on the couch like a little puppy. I smiled, placing my hand on his head as he dropped to the ground, bowing his head as I stroked his soft fur back. "Hey Silver…you like that?" I whispered as I continued to pet his head, finally sliding off the couch to sit next to Silver.

"Hmm, I sense favoritism here…" Axel said, who was leaning forward above his knees, observing my friendly moment with Silver. "Aww don't be jealous Axel…" I teased, eyeing him with a smirk. "Hmph, who says I was jealous…" He then got off the couch to sit on the floor on his knees, trying to move my hand away to pet Silver. "Hey wait tills your turn," I grunted, spanking his hand away. "Hey…" Axel groaned, his eyes narrowing at me. I released a giggle, replying, "Yeah, you are soo not childish."

"Hmph, whatever…" I then moved my hand to rest it on my lap, letting Axel get a turn to pet the rabbit. Axel smiled, finally petting the rabbit that acted like he was chewing on something. "Hey guys," Kale began, landing on my couch in an anxious manner, "wanna here a story?"

"I dunno, stories sorta makes me doze off so don't expect much from me…" Axel said casually, still looking at the rabbit. I elbowed his arm from his rudeness. He whimpered, grinning faintly at me.

"Oh no it won't be boring, you'll see when I tell it, seriously!" Kale said with eagerness, trying to win Axel over. Axel chuckled, saying, "Alright alright kay? I was just kidding…" Axel then turned to me, his brows stitched together in annoyance. "And you, stop beating me up!" I smirked at him as my arms crossed each other. "Hmph, it's not my fault you're a skinny weakling." I then pinched his arm to hear him yelp.

"Ow man!"

"Ah ha ha!" I laughed as he rubbed his aching spot. "I didn't even pinch that hard Axel you big baby!" I tittered. "Hmm, you think you know a person…" Axel sneered at me, a grin replacing it as his face softened.

"So Kale, you going to tell them that story?" a voice said behind Axel and me that had me jump, making Silver's head come up curiously. Both Axel and me spun our heads around to see Kizuka with his arms crossed, still wearing that black turtleneck and blue jeans on his lean body, appearing emotionless in his pale face who stood a few inches away from us.

Axel spoke to Kizuka saying," You know you shouldn't do that or one would think you were a ghost." Kizuka didn't bother a reply to Axel as he stepped forward towards us. He looked down at me, his gaze giving off negative vibes, making me feel bare and small. "Hmm, I like your clothes…" Kizuka said, complimenting me. I was flabbergasted by his praise as my eyes went big, sputtering, "Uh, t-thanks…" I looked at Axel at the corner of my left eye to see his expression; he seemed surprised and confused at the same time with his brows raised. Axel and I were probably thinking the same thing. 'So he can be nice?'

Kizuka cleared his throat, looking away from me and towards Kale. "Well, tell them…" I turned back at Kale, wondering what this story was about since Kizuka appeared interested in it. Kale smiled with an "Ahem," with his hands on his lap. "Alright, this is something that my great-grandfather used to tell me and Keesh when we were little."

Axel chuckled, having our heads turn to him. "I think you're still pretty small shrimp," Axel mocked while I giggled to myself. Kale frowned as his head lowered, mumbling "I'm not that small…anyway," he continued, bringing his head back up in a solemn manner, "there was an enemy that used to be able to take over the worlds with its almighty darkness and power, messing up the worlds and taking peoples hearts and stuff," he paused, as if to give the story a suspenseful effect. "They were called 'The Improbus'…"

My lips formed a grin, moving my fingers in the air with creepiness. "Ohhh~" both Axel and me cooed in fake astonishment. Kale smiled after that, like what he was saying was the truth and he was surprising us with our interest.

"Yeah, and the leader's name was Attrox, but he was not human, he was a heartless with a human body!"

"Wow really, this sure is some story…" Axel said in sarcasm, but Kale didn't even notice. Kale nodded his head. "Yup, and him and his dark team of heartless was trying to get the power of a powerful force so that he can take over the heart of worlds, and make his own worlds with that power."

"Hmm, sounds so real Kale…" I said, "and your great-grandfather told you this?"

"Yeah, this is what my great-grandfather used to tell me before he passed away," he paused, leaning his head forward to get closer to our position on the floor. "And this story is true…" I swallowed, feeling my brows have risen from that last word out Kale's mouth. "True?" Axel asked, his brows twisted out of misunderstanding.

"Yeah it's true," Kizuka said, having me turn to look at him to see him eyeing Axel, his arms still crossed across his chest. "Hmm really…never heard of this story," Axel replied, not really catching on with the flow of the tale. "It's pretty hard to believe…hearing that a heartless having a human body…sounds made up."

"Well it's not," Kizuka said, a sharp tone in his voice. "Finish the story Kale…" Kizuka commanded his brother, leaving Axel a bit bothered in his stiffened face.

"But don't fret," Kale said with brightness, bringing our full attention back to him. "There was a hero that was chosen to defeat the nasty, ugly foe to its demise." He then pointed his finger in the air, standing up on his feet, appearing almighty as he shouted "Duro the conqueror!"

'Duro?'

"Yep it was Duro," Kale said, like he just read my mind. He sat his butt back down on the couch and continued. "Duro had the power to end The Improbus because the powerful force that Attrox was after gave Duro that power. So he was able to defeat it with a Keyblade," he then shrugged with his head tilted to the side, "but I don't even know what that is…" I sighed, shaking my head with a small grin.

'I'll tell him later…'

"But anyway, just because he defeated Attrox and his heartless doesn't mean that he was dead at that time."

"Mmm, what you mean?" Axel asked, now hearing the curiosity in his voice. "Well, by what my great-grandfather said was that every few years, Attrox and The Improbus always come back, but we don't know… how he is able to do it…"

"Wow that's strange…" I said. "So you're saying that when a few years pass, Attrox and his clan of heartless comes back right? Then who defeats them when they appear again?" Axel asked, a question that sounded reasonable of a question to answer.

"Uhm, well…"

"Another person gets picked to defeat them…" Kizuka answered. We both turned to look at him. "Oh…interesting story indeed…" Axel said, turning back away from Kizuka with an unkempt thinking expression on his face. "So, what you guys think?" Kale asked, having me turn back around to see his brows lowered, anxious for our answer.

My hand reached up to rub my nape, thinking of an answer to give him. "Uhm, it was good story Kale, never heard of one like this before," I said with a small grin. "But I do have to say, it is pretty hard to believe, but then again, it could be true-"

"It is…" Kizuka said sternly. I failed to look back at him, but instead turned to stare at Axel, his head facing the ground with his brows furrowed.

"Well, believe it because it is true, and because it is the first time Kizuka and me told this to anyone," Kale said, desperately wanting us to not take it to granted, his hazel eyes big in worry. I gave him a faint smile, wanting to believe him, but wanting to take the realistic approach of things. But then again, something about this tale had me drawn to it.

Axel finally spoke. "Well, it's like a legend right? But is there any proof of those things taking place in the past?" After that, both the brothers were silent, only leaving their rabbit to run around the room with his unclipped fingernails snapping at the floor. "Uh…well my great-grandfather said it was true…and uhm…" Kale said, unsure of what to say, his eyes glancing away in different directions as he thought on the question.

Kizuka spoke up for him though, the sounding of pride in his voice. "Our great-grandfather was no crazy man, he was smart and wise," he began, catching my interest by turning around to observe him. "He didn't make up those stories either, his own father told him that story and his father before…" He then turned around, his long hair whipping his shoulder. "But, of course, believe what you want to believe," he finished, progressing up the stairs in small steps, leaving the room in a cold aura.

Even though he tried to hide it in his unaffected mannerism, I could hear the soundness of hurt, deeply in his voice and by his actions; even Kizuka has belief in this story being true, but when someone thought the opposite, it leaves you discouraged in a sense. I sighed heavily, turning back to Kale to see his head lowered in grief, still as a rock on a soft couch. I reluctantly spoke to him in concern, wanting to end the silence in the room. "Kale? Are you sad?"

He didn't answer right away, but instead shook his head, then nodded, as if not to have a final answer. "Well…maybe a little," he mumbled.

Just then, he got off the couch, his body in a mild shake as he walked pass us into the kitchen; now it was only Axel and me, and Silver who sniffing at the walls collecting dust in the corners. My head dropped to look at my hands, sad at what a story can do when told. "Ugh, now I feel bad and I'm tired," I said, peering at Axel, seeing he was staring at me in a gawking, stoic manner. "Uhm, what is it Axel?" He turned away, sighing with a small upturned grin that faded. "Nothing you have to worry about, but they are really hooked onto that story," he then looked back at me, his green eyes tired as he asked, "you think it's true though?"

My lips pursed, turning away in thought, not really knowing how to answer to that. "Well, I have to think about it and stuff you know, just can't give an answer like that when you've only heard of it once and for your first time." My shoulders rose and fell, standing up on my aching feet to sit on my comfy couch trying to relax, still worried of how Kale feels about us now.

"You worried aren't you?" Axel asked out of the blue. My eyes glanced at him then at the floor, my chest hurting from a painful emotion. "Well don't be 'cause I don't want you up all night thinking of this story and whatnot 'kay?"

"Mmm…" I moaned my answer, meaning I was agreeing with him or not as I lied my head on the arm. He got off the ground and stepped up to me, patting my head gently. My heart throbbed, trying to hide how happy I was when he did that, but couldn't as I grinned to myself. "Just don't worry…" Axel said, moving his hand away where I could see his nice smile, his body walking away towards the doorway of the kitchen.

My lips smiled fully when he left my sight, but faded as my mind went back to that story Kale told. Something about it made my heart sad, like when I entered this town yesterday. A type of sorrow that was heart stressing, and no one else would know or understand that feeling but me. Would Axel understand if he tried? Even though he's just a 'nobody' that was never supposed to have emotions in the first place, or even exist?

My tired eyes closed, sighing in a long breath. 'Axel can care, I definitely know that…but can he choose not to feel an emotion if he wanted to?'

Too bad I don't have all the answers…

As I was railing on my train of thought, I didn't notice Mrs. Dean head poking out in the doorway until she spoke in a small voice. "Deonna hun?" she asked, catching my attention as my eyes opened to look at her. "You wanna eat? Dinner's ready?" I gave her a vague smile; sitting up from the couch and getting up to greet her at the doorway. She smiled even more, opening the gate for me to enter the kitchen where Axel and Kale were eating on the right side of the table, eating some of the things Mrs. Dean and me fixed a little earlier.

Seeing Kale's down written face made my posture stiff, walking past him, catching his attention with a small smile and hoping he would smile back. He replied with a partway grin, his big eyes droopy and glossy as he turned back to his plate of food. I patted his head, sitting at the chair where I could peer into the living room if I wanted to. We mostly ate in silence, until Axel tried to start up a conversation with Kale; he spoke back though, but couldn't deny the fact he was still upset about earlier, talking low as a frog.

When we all ate, Mrs. Dean gave me some pink pj's to wear, not wanting me to sleep in my clothes but to clean my old clothes and under garments; I bundled up my old clothes in a ball, hoping no one would see my stuff in the laundry basket that Mrs. Dean held out for me. After that, I went upstairs and changed my garments to put on the new pj's Mrs. Dean bought for me and learned that they fitted almost perfectly on my shapely build; it's just that I didn't wear pink often because it was my least favorite color, but I didn't have a real problem with it though, since she bought them for me.

When I left the bathroom to go downstairs, Axel was on his couch, staring up at the ceiling as usual while I saw that the gate was put away, which meant that Silver was in his cage. The room was dark, as well as the kitchen, leaving the only light to come from the outside window that entered the translucent curtain in a tranquil glow.

My feet were being dragged as I walked to my couch, sitting my bag on the floor that held my new clothes and laying my tired body on the couch, covering myself with the thick blue blanket that Mrs. Dean left for me.

"Axel?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"You sleepy?" He sighed, replying in a groggy voice, "Yeah…" I chuckled. "You're always tired Axel…you remind me of an old man sometimes" I teased. "Shut up and go to sleep…" Axel responded, leaving me in a giggling fit. After that, I lied there in silence, staring at the window that was covered with the curtains, hoping I didn't start worrying again as I tired to sleep.

"Deonna?" Axel asked. Thinking he already went to sleep by now, I answered, "Huh?"

"G'night…"

"Good night Axel…"

* * *

The setting was awfully familiar; dark, spacious and quiet. I've only experienced this dramatic scene just a few times; it must be happening again, so I partly covered my eyes for the impact. The death piercing light came from under me, the birds shooting up from the ground to ascend in a distance where I couldn't follow them in the dark sky as I uncovered my eyes. An image of the people I knew and didn't know was on the platform under me, smiling brightly like they knew me since forever. This was not the usual dream I had, but this was the second dream I've had with this same scene and picture of theses people I knew and didn't know. Then that soft-loud voice came up in the bright area, but I was not surprised when it did.

"Hello Deonna, how are you?" It was that voice that my ears were accustomed to, a voice that I could never forget in a dream. "I'm fine Kingdom Hearts…" I answered with a smile.

'Just wondering what I'm doing in this dream, at least it's not that other dream with that old psycho.'

Kingdom Hearts then said something that caught me off guard. "Oh but Deonna, this is not dream, but it is your awakening…for all Keyblade wielders have them and so do you…"

"Ah w-what?" I asked, my voice cracking in disbelief, my heart racing in opposition to that statement as my foot stepped back.

"I know you were never the one to take what the dreams you have seriously, but this is no joke, or one to let slide off your back because it is not one…"

That was true; I never believed the dreams I had for reality, but if this was indeed my awakening, I should not take it for granted and dismiss it for some silly old dream, but still, this is something hard to believe for me. But there were some instances when Kingdom Hearts said that there was going to be some people who will help me on my journey; just have to find them, but it was Axel who found me first.

My head felt a minor dizzy as I swallowed, tightening my fists as I straightened myself up. "Alright, I believe you Kingdom Hearts, because you did say all Keybalde wielders have awakenings, and that I'll be able to find my sister if I find that boy whose name means 'sky'…even though it was my sister I've been searching for this whole time." My head lowered at the illuminated platform, my eyes downcast as I continued, " But how do I do that? Find this boy who could be at the countless worlds that I don't even know of?"

"Find him with the spirit of your heart, you know this, and help is closer than you think…" Confused, I looked back up, my brows furrowed as I tried to understand. "Closer than I think?"

"Yes," Kingdom Hearts replied, "closer than a treat…"

'Great, there goes that poetic talk again…'

"And what you were listening to that lad earlier, the boy Kale is it?"

"Uh…" my mouth dropped, my skin tingling with nervousness. 'Kingdom Hearts knows about that?'

"Mmm, yes, but what he was saying to you, do not take it for some silly old tale," there was a small pause before Kingdom Hearts continued. "The Improbus is indeed real, as well as the its leader 'Attrox'…"

Right there and then, my blood froze, my throat thickened in relation to that statement, still as a manikin with no emotion, except looking in a far off daze. "Deonna, The Improbus is a baleful group of heartless who is run by a leader name Attrox, who wishes to fulfill his pleasures in taking over the worlds by taking control of me and my powers, using it to make worlds of his own by taking their hearts and mine, the heart of all worlds…"

Hearing Kingdom Hearts say these things made my body limp and weak; I fell to the ground, my head drooping at my lap as I continued to listen.

"But don't be afraid, for you have the potential to defeat this enemy of mine…"

"I…I do…?"

"Yes, so don't doubt yourself…"

My chest felt strained, like my breathing was short and brief, but took long breaths to calm myself as my eyes closed. "Man, this is so surreal though…how will I be able to do this? Little 'ole me…against an army of heartless?" I mumbled to myself. My head shook in disbelief, shooting back up at the dark sky. "No this is impossible, how can a girl like me do this sort of feat Kingdom Hearts? Am I really that good of a fighter? A heroin of worlds?" My head dropped again. "This is too much for me…I'm no hero…"

Kingdom Hearts spoke again, a stern gentleness in its voice. "You want to find your sister don't you?" Kingdom Hearts asked. My head nodded, leaving my head towards the ground. "Yes…"

"And how will you be able to find her?"

I moaned, shrugging as I replied, "If I listen to you?"

"Exactly…" I looked back up, my bottom lip in a small pout. "You should know you have more potential than you would have ever dreamed, that I do know, but do you believe that yourself?"

"Mmm…hearing this from you, I guess I should, but not if I'm not convinced…"

"You are very smart and just became an adult…should you have more self-esteem than that?"

Before I could reply, Kingdom Hearts spoke again. "Even the one who cares for you sees it. So trust yourself and follow your heart because the only way to find your sister is to find that boy…"

"But how will I be able to find-"

My sentence was interrupted as my mind was filled with letters that entered my brain. I couldn't speak even if I wanted to; my eyes dead as I stared at nothing, squinting as the letters formed a single word. "S…or," I mumbled, "So…ra…" My eyes blinked, understanding what the word spelled to. "Sora?" I asked.

"Yes, the boy you search for is name Sora…" I gasped, standing up on my feet to search for the brown haired boy with the blue eyes, who lied just a few steps from me up ahead, smiling a goofy cute grin. My eyes widened from this revelation, my nerves tingling a blissful sensation.

"Deonna, the only way to find what you search for is to find this boy, and help each other defeat this foe that is a danger to all before he fully rises again," Kingdom Hearts paused, having me look up at the sky, wanting to see that gorgeous heart that can't be seen. "So is that what you meant before, when you said that there was a darkness on the rise of the worlds?" I asked, only to hear Kingdom Hearts reply a, "Yes…"

"Mmm," I groaned, staring at the darkness ahead of me as I began to think aloud. "So, I have to defeat this Attrox guy…and find this Sora kid to accomplish it and to find my sister…"

"But not only that, but to go to the worlds where your heart tells you to go, and meet the people you are bound to meet to help you on your journey," Kingdom Hearts said. I looked down at the people I was soon to meet; two guys with silver hair and one with brown hair whose name I've learned to be is Sora. I nodded, finally giving myself a smile after all this time, suddenly feeling happy in a sense, where I know what I have to do now to find my sister and be of help to the worlds.

"Alright then," I said with a smile, putting my hands behind my back. "I believe you then…but if I really am going to help this Sora kid out, I need to train more…"

Kingdom Hearts spoke again. "Of course you will need to, for the worlds you journey to will be your training ground…" After that, just like before, the light of the platform went up at me in horrific light as I blanketed my eyes with my arms.

* * *

My eyes opened, staring up at the ceiling as I rubbed my eyes quirkily. "Sora…" I moaned, smiling to myself, sitting upright by using my arm to support my weight. "Mmm, gotta find Sora, gotta find Sora…" I mumbled, blinking my eyes to clear my fuzzy vision.

"Axel?" I asked the air, wanting to tell Axel what happened in my sleep as I looked at the blurry couch, but realized that he wasn't on the bed or that the blankets he used last night wasn't there either; the couch was fixed with the pillows on both sides of the couch in an orderly manner, no Axel in sight.

"Ugh, where'd he go now?" I grunted, standing up off the sofa, observing the room for anything weird or out of the blue; the only thing I came up with was that the house was quiet; no brothers quarreling with each other or no Axel saying 'Got it memorized?' to anyone. Silver was eating the food out of his bowel, his big ears perked in my direction like a satellite. I went and poked my head out into the kitchen, seeing how clean the room was compared to last evening when Mrs. Dean and I made all that food for the festival.

When I looked past the clean table, I saw a piece of paper on it; I went to it and picked it up, curiously reading what it said. At the top read 'Mrs. Dean' and below it was a small paragraph for Axel and me to read that read: "_Axel and Deonna, me and my husband are going to be at town almost all day, so if you need anything, just ask Keesh because he's going to be in the house for the remainder of the day until the evening where the festival is going to take place. Breakfast is in the fridge, just use the microwave on the counter to warm it up and if you need to shower, just use the white towels I placed in the bathroom for you to use and the soap or shampoo if you need it. Love Mrs. Dean._"

I smiled, setting the piece of paper down to open the fridge on my left; there was only one plate covered by a paper plate on the cold top shelf next to a jar of pickles, so I grabbed that one; knowing Axel probably grabbed the other when he woke up. I warmed it up in the microwave and ate it, all the while thinking of where Axel was as well as Kale; they were probably in the town to, but I doubt Axel would want to show his face there again. When I was done with my food, I put the dish in the sink, got my bag and went up stairs to shower, but decided to take a bath instead since my feet felt sore.

After I washed up and changed my clothes, I went back downstairs, but when I made it to that last step, my ears heard a certain flow of music coming from the door that I thought was a closet, right next to Silver's cage. My brows twisted from the gentle harmony. "Huh? What is that?" My body froze from the long sounds of an instrument, hoping the person inside didn't hear my hard steps on the stairs. I held my stomach in to make myself lighter as I tiptoed towards the door along the wall. The door was partly open, so I decided whether to open it or to peer inside the room to see who or what was playing the instrument of a violin. The harmony was really nice and smooth; whoever was playing must have been playing it for years.

'Hmm…who could it be…' I thought as I grasped the side of the opening door, glancing inside to see who was playing. The figure of a tall boy with long black hair was moving his right arm with a bow while his left hand was holding the violin. By the way he was dressed and how he stood, I knew it was non other but Kizuka.

My mouth was unhinged as I stared at his back, totally unaware of my presence in the doorway. 'Wow, his music is beautiful…when did he get down here? When I was upstairs washing up?' I also saw a big black object he was standing in front of. Instead of interrupting him, I stepped inside and stood against the wall with my hands behind my back, just listening to the soft melody that he made with his violin until he was done. What was in front of him was a big black piano standing in the middle of the room and a seat that came with it. I covered my mouth in shock, my brows rising in content. 'Wow, can he play the piano to?' My head drifted with his music until he was finally done within just a few moments. I couldn't help myself of applauding him with minor small claps.

"That was really good Kizuka…" I said, getting his attention by watching him turn around, baffled by my appearance in the room. My grin became vague as I felt uneasy, stopping myself clap when I saw how disturbed he was in his tense facial features and how he clutched the violin in his hand. He appeared mad as he stared at me with his intense cold blue eyes, like he didn't want me to be here. My heart was beating fast as my throat felt kind of itchy, probably meant it was time to exit.

"Uhm…well I'll just go and not watch you now…uh kay?" I stammered, avoiding eye contact as I opened the door to leave. "Wait," Kizuka said, making me stop from leaving out the room in mid-stride. "Uh…yes?" I asked, only turning in profile. He cleared his throat before saying, "So you like music?"

"Mmm, yeah, I do," I agreed, finally turning to look at him to see how interested his eyes were on me. "Hmm, alright," he said, lifting the violin in the air, "you know how to play this?" I shook my head. "No, I don't but I like the music that the instrument can play." The corners of his mouth turned into a small grin. My brows rose in surprise of that emotion he just displayed. 'Wow…' was all I thought.

My eyes glanced around the room until he spoke again, looking emotionless but sympathetic at the same time. "Sorry for looking angry when I saw you clapping," he apologized, scratching his hair that held the bow, "you just surprised me that's all…"

"Oh, it's alright Kizuka," I said with a smile. His face looked relieved as he sighed. I decided to step in towards him, since I knew Kizuka didn't mind my company now. His left eye squinted while the other got wider when I stopped a few inches from him. "So," I began, "you know how to play the piano?"

"Yeah I do," he said with a little pitch in his voice. He turned around and sat down at piano, putting his violin set on the top of the keyboard. I stepped up behind him, watching his fingers press onto the piano keys to give the room a smooth melody of notes to listen to. I smiled, closing my eyes as my ears became relaxed by the harmony of Kizuka's piano playing. Within a moment, he stopped, making my eyes open to peer down at him.

"Can you play?" he asked, looking back up at me from the board of keys. "Uhm…" I pursed my lips, sitting down next to him as I hovered my hands above the elongated board. "A little bit, I know a few jingles to play." I then started to play the song I've learned from that electric keyboard at home that my mom bought for me. I played my favorite one; 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight?' I messed up a few times, here and there in "Oops" while Kizuka only chuckled from my mistakes.

When I was done, I avoided eye contact as he complimented my piano playing. "You did pretty good Deonna," he said. I grinned, this time looking at him as I shrugged. "Thanks, but I haven't played that song in forever so I was a little rusty…" He beamed me a smile, shocking me at how cute his smile actually is. I grinned back saying, "You should smile more y'know…"

His smile dropped into a thin line, turning away to look at the keys of the piano. 'Hmm? Was it wrong to say that?'

"Uhm Kizuka-"

"Call me Keesh…" Kizuka said, interrupting me. My mouth was partly open, mystified by how Kizuka was treating me. "Okay, Keesh…uhm I was wondering…" I started, looking away when I saw the corner of his eye peer at me. "Why were you indifferent to Axel and me before?"

"Mmm…sorry for being that way…I'm just wary of strangers that's all." I looked back at him; he turned aside as he continued. "I'm obliged to protect my family, I'm sure you understand?"

"Yes, I understand that very well…" My eye stared at a key, remembering of what I also wanted to ask him. "Oh, and have you seen Axel?" I shot my head back up, waiting for his answer. He didn't look at me as he spoke. "Hmmm, I think he went to town with Kale…" My left brow lowered at his answer. "Oh…"

"You want to go to town?" he asked, puzzling me with that question without even looking at me. "Uh, yeah sure," I said, standing up from the seat as I stretched my arms up to the ceiling.

"Wonder what that red head's up to anyway." He got off the chair, watching me stretch my limbs out, making me feel strange so I stopped.

"What? Why you looking at me for?" I asked him, feeling violated as I crossed my arms. He shook his head, clearing his throat as he went to the door. "Nothing, let's go…"I stared at the door, and started to walk to it, thinking of what just happened.

'Was that a blush I saw?'


	15. Long Days:Part 3

**I am soo sorry for not getting this up when I said I would T-T Blame life **

**This is the longest chap I got on here so far, but I hope you like ^^**

**Disclaimer: _(Look in first chapter)_**

* * *

**A Walk in the Dark**

Before we left to town, Keesh said he had to put some sun lotion on before leaving the house, so I waited for him on the outside porch with my backpack clamped to my back. When he came out, we started walking towards town. It was a good day; not just because the sun was shining in the center of the sky or that the breeze made the temperature equal, which I liked by the way, but just because I was going to see the festival of the town later on. I sure couldn't wait to see what happens or what we'll do in the evening. 'Can Axel dance?'

I smiled to myself from those pleasurable thoughts. "What you smiling about?" Keesh asked, disrupting my thoughts of happiness as I looked at him dumbly on my right. "Oh, nothing but the festival this evening that I want to attend," I said with a grin. "Oh, the festival, that'll be fun…" he said, turning away. I smirked, glancing at him. "So, you can be fun huh?" He looked back at me, trying to pierce into my soul with his stubborn blue eyes.

"What? Ever since Axel and me been here, all I've ever seen is you looking mean and cold or something…"

"Mmm…sorry for that…"

"Why are you like that anyway? I don't mean to intrude though…I mean you don't have to tell me or anything," I said, looking away at the turn where we have to go into the city. After a moment, Kizuka spoke again. "It's not that I'm a mean person…it's just that…" He stopped walking, making me halt when I noticed he was standing behind me, rubbing his forehead from the sweat on his forehead.

"Hmm?" I went back to him, waiting for him to finish. He wouldn't look at me, just stared at the ground where I could see his profile as he spoke. "Remember when you saw my folks in the backyard, pulling the crops and stuff?" I nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, you didn't see me helping them did you?"

'Hmmm…'

He was right; I never did see him working with his family yesterday in the backyard. He continued, his shoulders rising and falling in a shrug. "Yeah… well…that's because I have a skin disorder." My face twisted, scratching my cheek from hearing such an unpredictable fact. "Uh, uh skin disorder?"

"Yeah, where my skin is sensitive to the sunlight in the day, so I don't go out much, unless it's night…" I looked from his adverted eyes to the blanket clothing that must have been making him hot in this mild heat. 'Must be why he's always wearing that turtleneck and jeans? And his skin is soo pale like that…no wonder he seemed like the sore thumb of the town.'

My brows lowered, sad for him that he's sick like this. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that Keesh," I said, looking at him, hoping he would look back at me and just smile it off. He shook his head. "No…but that doesn't mean I should treat you guys indifferently because I'm upset with myself about it."

"Were you born that way?"

"Yeah…so I couldn't help my mother or dad in the fields when they wanted me to…some older son I am huh?" he paused, sighing a big huff of air in disdain, "and I would get teased because of it…" That's when I realized why he seemed to blow people off in the beginning; he's cold towards people because he's mad, sad in the inside so he distance's himself away from people, new ones to. It sure doesn't help when you get laughed at for it. But, at least I know what his inner person is like. I grinned faintly, reaching for his hand. His head shot up, his hand shaking when I touched it, holding it firmly. "W-what are you doing?" he asked, his face tense and surprised. My head tilted to the side, walking behind him as I gripped his hand tighter, pulling him with me back away from town. "You don't need to be out here if the sun's going to make you sick…

"No no, I want to take you to town…" he said, pulling his hand away and gripping mine, pulling me back towards town. I groaned, starting to feel hot from all this movement. "No Keesh, how about your skin?" I asked, now walking with him with reluctance. "I don't care about that now…just want to show how much I'm sorry for being such a idiot towards you…" he replied, turning back to glance at me and turning back to the road. My eyes went wide, flattered by what he wants to accomplish by taking me into town with him. I grinned, walking to the side of him now since he wasn't going to change his mind. "Fine you can take me Keesh," I said with a sigh, looking at him to see him smiling at me, a small blush in his cheeks as he turned away. His hand relaxed, letting my hand go.

When we entered the crowded district, there were people moving around and about, settling the streets with chairs and tables on its sides in front of the stores, hanging large decorations on the windows and wall of the buildings and adorning the street lights with giant bows that had to be tied to. I gawked at the hardworking scene of the people; even the children were running around, going under the tables that were being carried by men with long paper sheets flying in their hands. 'Wow, just think how all of this will look at night time…' I thought.

"But, where could that red head be?" I asked aloud, putting my hands on my hips, squinting my eyes to look past the people on the streets. Keesh went ahead of me while I followed through, pushing our way into the crowd, trying not to get in the way or trip over anything. 'Mmm Axel where are you?' The only way to spot him is to see his fire red hair; you couldn't miss him!

"Hugh! This is such a headache…" I groaned. "Is it that important that you find Axel?" Kizuka asked as he stopped, turning around to look at me. "Mmm, well it would make me feel better to see him, since I didn't see him this morning…"

'Also because I got to tell him about my awakening…'

"Oh…" he mumbled, turning away to walk. When he turned away, I stopped his shoulder, making him turn back around again to see his face. "Huh what?" he asked, his blotchy face stiffened. My eyes rolled over the skin of his face, seeing how his skin had pink spots in different places. "Keesh, your face has blotches of pink in different areas..." His hand reached to touch his face and seemed to wince when he touched a pink spot. "Can you feel it Keesh? From the sun I mean?" He groaned, his brows stitching together as he replied, "Yeah…"

My brows curved, taking my hand in his. "Keesh, let's get some shade for your skin," I said, pulling him towards the shade of a building where we had to step through the gap of two tables. I turned back around, still concerned about his condition. "And stop acting like it don't hurt and tell me will you?" I commanded. He grinned shyly, looking down at his hand I was still holding. 'Oops!'

I pulled my hand away, feeling myself hot in the cheeks. "Well anyway, let's keep looking for Axel…" I said, advancing ahead of Keesh who silently followed. After a moment or two Keesh spoke, curiosity in his voice. "Deonna," he began, catching my attention as I slowed my walking pace. "Hmm?" I turned slightly around. "Is Axel your boyfriend or something? Just curious…" My heart throbbed from that question, turning back around in a huff. 'Is this what everyone thinks when they see us together? If that is the case, that sure didn't stop those crazy people we encountered yesterday…'

I sighed. "No he's not Keesh, just a friend who I met a few days ago…" I spotted a shaded free bench a few feet away from us where there were red and blue ribbons appended to the arms; I went and sat on it, resting my legs while I observed the crowd of people who were marching around like soldiers. Keesh sat with me. I turned my head to look at him, wondering about his skin. "How's your face now?"

"Better…" he said, reaching into his right pocket, pulling a bottle of sun-lotion out to apply his skin with the substance. "Wait a sec is that going to burn?" I asked, reaching my hand out to him in worry. It was to late though; he already smudged it on his face as I watched him whimper in pain, hesitantly touching his face with his fingers.

"Keesh that is not smart, you don't have any medicine?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips, giving him a stern, strict look. He moaned, looking at me with glossy eyes. "Ran out of that a long time ago…" I huffed, leaning forward with my elbow on my leg, propping my head with my hand. "That's just great Keesh…"

"Why you so worried?"

I shrugged. "Can't help but worry 'cause I care…I guess."

"Hmm…I guess that's why you're so likeable…" he mumbled. My body heated up when he said that, covering my face with my hands as I looked down at the ground.

"How's it hanging kids?" a voice said behind us. My head shot up; happy with the familiar voice as I spun around, gripping the back edge of the bench. Axel was leaning on the bench with his one arm while the other was holding a blue ice cream, grinning that cute smirk of his. "Ugh, I've been looking everywhere for you Axel!" I shouted, trying to hold in that smile that was begging to come out, pulling my legs onto the seat to see him more clearly. "Huh, oh really? With Kizuka here?" he said, glancing at Keesh, his expression turning to one of confusion, his head backing away in bewilderment. "Oh man, what the heck is on your face!"

Keesh groaned, looking away while I growled at Axel. "Axel, try not to talk about it okay?" I sat up on my knees, closing in on the side of his face, mumbling in his ear, "he has a skin disorder…" I leaned back, watching him nod as he caught a glance at Keesh. "Hmm, maybe you shouldn't be out here if the environment's going to make your skin, y'know? All messed up…" Axel advised, licking his ice cream afterwards. "I'll be fine…but thanks…" Keesh responded, eyeing him with the corner of his eye. Axel raised his brow at him, and then his eyes looked at me. "Any who, Deonna I'm going back to the house to take a cat nap," Axel said, his head looking away to peer at the crowd of people. "Oh, but what time did you get up this morning?"

"Probably an hour before you woke.

"Sheesh, Kale was right, you are boring," I said with a grin. "What? Did you forget? Were going to be leaving tonight. So I just want to get enough sleep before were on the move again…" My lips pursed, feeling down about leaving the town, glancing down at my finger nails. "Oh right…"

'But are we staying for the festival?'

I watched as Axel started to walk away, his hand up to his mouth about to finish his eaten Popsicle as he looked back at me. "You comin?" I nodded. "Yeah…"

'I guess I should take a nap to since the world we go to next might not be as luxurious as this town right?' I looked down as Keesh; his arms crossed as he looked ahead at the walking mob. "Keesh? You want to go back with us?" I asked, stepping down from the bench, standing in front of him. "No, I'll just stay here for a while…" he said, looking up at me, finally a small grin on his face. "Alright Keesh, but stay out of the sun," I said with a smirk, patting his shoulder as I started to follow Axel back to the house.

I watched as Axel sat on his couch, laying his body on the cushions in an exaggerated sigh. "Whew…"

He popped his hands behind his head in a relief manner, staring at the wall opposite him. I sighed as I walked to his couch, sitting on the floor with my legs crossed where he lied above me on the big seat.

"Axel?"

"Hmm?"

"Are we staying for the festival?" He didn't say anything, just hummed in the still, quiet room. "Hmm, I wasn't planning to stay for it…" My body spun around on my knees as I faced him with eager eyes. "What? You don't want to stay for the thing later?" His lip formed a thin line, tilting his head in my direction as he answered in a casual manner. "I was thinking we should stay focused on the primary mission here and not joke around at some gathering," he twisted his upper body around, looking at me keenly. "You want to find your sis don't you?" I hesitated, averting my eyes towards my fingers that clenched the edge of the couch. "Yeah…"

"Okay then…" Axel finished, sliding back to his unwinding posture. "But…still we…" I began, but decided not to finish what I was going to say. I stood back up on my feet, glaring at the red head with mild contempt. "Wait, since when did I have to get permission from you whether or not to go anyway?" I asked, my hands griping my hips.

"Is that an attitude?" Axel asked, his one eye open for observance.

"No it is not, I'm just upset- y'know I'm an adult now!" I shrieked. "Wow I never knew that…" Axel said sarcastically as he sat upright, his hands in fists making dents on the cushions of the couch. "But who has the train express to different worlds?"

'Obviously it's you…' I whipped my head around, turning to my side so I wouldn't be standing in Axel's direction "You do…but still," I mumbled, shooting a defiant glare at his irked expression. "It's not fair, you are boring and don't…ugh!" My feet marched away in giant steps towards the entryway of the kitchen, leaving in an exasperated steam of essence. 'Ohh that Axel, I mean I'm the one who started this journey anyway! I should pick where I want to go and do! And I want to spend time here at night before I leave. I still don't like him either that scum bag!' I grabbed a chair and sat on it, propping my head with my hand that elbowed the table, my brows stuck in arrows.

My finger tapped the white clothed table from excitement, my head hurting from the build up of strain in my bundled mind. After a few moments, my face muscles loosened like stings. "I mean…don't Axel want to?" I whispered, resting my head on the table in my bowled arms, glancing at the silver sink across from me that glinted in the dim light of the kitchen.

"Mmm…Sora…gotta find that boy…" I moaned, closing my eyes to hopefully take a nap in a hard chair.

* * *

My body shook from an unknown source, waking me from up from unconsciousness. "Deonna wake up sleepy head…"

"Hmm, what? What?" I groaned, my head rising up from my short drowse of sleep, my eyes partly opened, looking in different directions for the constant shake. "What? Stop that I'm up…" I then realized that there were firm hands on my shoulders; I looked back at them and saw that they were gloved. 'Axel…'

My squinted eyes automatically looked up; standing over me, a bothered tattooed face was looking back at me. I sighed as my eye closed. "What is it Axel?" I asked apathetically, bringing my head back to my crossed arms on the table. "It's time that you get up now…" he said. "Mmm…why?"

"Because I don't want you sleeping during the afternoon."

"What?" My head shot up, spinning my head around to see him lean off of me with his brows raised in amusement. "What time is it?"

"Mmm five something…"

"Uhhh…" I moaned, leaning my forehead on my hand with my elbow piercing the table. "I wasn't expecting to nap this late…"

'What time was it when I got up this morning anyway?'

Axel sat in the chair next to me on my left with his legs spread out, staring at me as if to catch my attention. I felt his stare and looked at him with my one open eye. "What?" He moistened his lips, a grin growing on his face. "You know you're complicated right?"

"Pfft…" I huffed, letting my hand fall on the table as I faced him fully with a dead look. "Yeah, I know I'm 'not' complicated," I corrected him. He leaned back in his chair, chuckling at my opposing statement. "Heh, you got to be the most emotional girl I've ever met." I turned back around, my hand holding my chin in annoyance. "Whatever…I'm not emotional…and you got to be the most bothersome stalker guy I've ever met…"

"Y'know that's getting old…"

"Hmph…"

Right now my legs were beginning to hurt for some reason around my pelvic area; I wasn't sure but it was probably that time again. 'Oh great, what am I going to do about that? But wait! I got to tell Axel about that thing though…!' I swallowed, looking back in Axel's direction in eagerness. "Axel I got to tell you something really important," I began, my leg bouncing as my fingers knitted together like in middle school.

His mouth was partly open like he was about to say something before I spoke, but closed it and responded saying, "shoot…"

I bit my lower lip, glancing at the floor then at the table. "But you got to promise me not to laugh, or not take it as something made up…"

"Ah, I promise, got it memorized? Now tell me what's the big secret?" he said, leaning on the table with his arm patiently. I nodded, taking a deep breath, hoping he would believe me as crazy as it sounds. "Alright, last night in my sleep, I-I had an awakening…" His brow went up while the other went down. "Awakening? What's that?"

"It's something that Keyblade wielders experience or something, and I had one last night…" His brows sunk as he glanced away in thought. "Huh, an awakening, never heard of that…" he looked back at me, his eyebrows now in a line, "what happens in these awakenings or yours?"

"Well," I looked down, moving my hands to my lap as I peered back up at him. "A voice talks to me, and tells me things that help me out in finding my sister…"

His body straightened up in a stiff position, baffled by what I was telling him. "Do you know this voice?" he asked calmly, though his posture said something different. I shrugged my shoulders, a bit unwilling to say but said it anyway as my eyes squinted for questions. "Kingdom Hearts is the voice…"

'Ooh oh please believe me Axel!'

I turned away, not wanting to see his confused expressions or not wanting to hear his questionable puzzled questions. Unknowingly to my prepared ears, the room was still silent; not even a pen would drop in this stillness. Instead of hearing his voice, Axel got up from the chair that skidded on the floor slightly, consciously turning my head to glance at him just out of wonder, even though I didn't want to. His hand was on his hip while the other was scratching the back of his head, his short brows in spirals as he stared back at me. He stuttered before speaking. "K-Kingdom Hearts can talk?"

"I-I guess so…I mean, did you know that?" He chuckled bitterly. "Heh, know I didn't."

"Hmm, and I thought you knew everything," I assumed, grinning slightly. He crossed his arm, shaking his head with a sigh. "But Axel there's more!"

"More? If you continue you're going to leave me in a whirlwind…" he said, squeezing the bridge of his nose with his fingers. I groaned, standing up as my body leaned on the table. "I'm serious Axel…remember that story Kale told us about last night?"

"Yeah? What about it?" His eyes opened back up, looking like he wasn't ready for any more surprises. "Well, The Improbus that Kale told us about is real Axel…so is there leader Attrox."

His small eyes went big when I uttered that fact, his head slowly dropping to the ground as he shifted his legs to the other. "So that made up tale is true?"

"It's not made up Axel! Kingdom Hearts told me that is was true, so I have to believe it either way! And you should to!" My brows furrowed, my sweaty hands turning into fist as I boldly spoke.

"Sheesh alright alright I believe you…" he said, his head finally lifting up from staring at his feet.

"Eh?" My shoulders slumped, not expecting him to be this understanding of my story. "You do?"

His eyes closed as he sighed, a faint grin on his face. "Yeah, I guess I gotta since I know you're not making it up…"

"Oh? Really?" His eyes opened with a slight smirk. "Yeah, I know you're not crazy…"

"Hmm, well thanks for not viewing me as that way," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. "Sure sure, but it's still surprising to hear this."

"Yeah I know," I said, putting my hand on my hip while I rubbed my nape with the other, glancing around the room. "I was really hoping you would believe me, so thanks Axel." He smiled, still with hidden uncertainty in his facial features. I didn't bother to ask him about it, but instead told him about the boy I had to find. "And Axel, there's one more thing…"

His head rolled around as he huffed, talking like he was tired of the surprises I was telling him about. "What now?"

"It's Sora I gotta find to help me look for my sister and help him defeat the Improbus…" I blurted out. His eyes went wide eyed as he gagged. "S…Sora?" I nodded. "Yeah, Sora…I got to find him and some other people when we go to different worlds to." Axel peered down at the table, rubbing his chin like he was confused. For a moment it was noiseless before he said anything else. "Man, this is some deep stuff…"

"Yeah… I know it is, I'm sorry I brought all of this down on you," I said, looking down at the white floor, feeling like I should not be bothering Axel with my responsibilities, really huge ones at that. 'Man, how am I going to do this? Is Axel willing to help me out now since I told him more than what he bargained for?'

My eyes felt strained as my throat felt thick, wishing for this feeling to go away. "Deonna?" Axel said after what felt like forever, but it really wasn't. I didn't look up at him, just up enough to glance at his cloak. "Hmm?"

"Did you know that I know a boy named Sora?"

"Huh? What?" I asked, finally lifting my head up in bewilderment. He was using his left arm to lean his body on the table while the other was on his hip, smiling gingerly at me. "Yeah, I know a Sora, the 'somebody' of my best friend Roxas." My eyes went huge as I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand. "Wow really?"

"Yeah really! Get it memorized!" he said with a chuckle. A short fit of laughter escaped my lips from this change of excitement.

"So is that the reason why you were asking me about knowing a boy with brown hair and blue eyes two days ago?"Axel asked.

"Yeah, if only I knew…" My mood changed to giddiness; my legs started to jump around doing my victory dance whenever I am so happy about any particular thing that was worth the dance, even in front of Axel. "Wow! Axel do you know how happy I am right now?" I exclaimed as my hands flew to the ceiling. His face showed amusement and entertainment as he just gawked at me with appealing eyes. "Yeah, can't hide yourself now can ya?" I smiled widely, rushing up to him to give him a hug. Axel tumbled back from the impact while his hands hovered above me.

"Whoa whoa what's with the hug?"

"What? Stop acting macho!"

"Hmph…" He patted my head, only embracing me slightly with his arms. I pulled away and looked at his face with a grin, knowing why his body was stiff and warm. His face was red and appeared uncomfortable, having me giggle with my hand up to my mouth. "Hmm, what you laughing at?" he sulked, wiping his forehead, looking away as he scratched his neck in a sneer. "Alright then that's the plan," I began, "go to worlds and train, find those people and Sora, help him defeat Attrox and find my sister…" I finished.

"Alright then, but that Attrox sounds like a nasty character…"

"Mmm-hmm," I moaned, setting my butt back on the chair, starting to feel my legs hurt again. "Well anyway, about tonight," Axel said, crossing his arms against his chest, "I thought it over and I guess we can stay for the party or whatever."

"Hmm? Really?"

"Yeah, aren't you happy? I mean, you're supposed to be doing that dance or whatever now."

I chuckled, turning away. "Oh right…but my legs hurt, so I don't think I can go now.

"What?" Axel yelled, making me jump in my seat as I gaped back at him in shock. He huffed, his eyes small and sharp as he leaned over me, freaking me out as I leaned to my right trying to make space. "You are going to that festival whether you like it or not missy…" he said with a sly firmness. "Uh…but I-"

He grabbed my left arm, dragging me out of the chair towards the living-room. "We are going to that festival and we are going to have a fun time!"

"No but I don't want to!"

"Well it's to late for you!" He pulled me all the way into the living room; I grabbed the couch's arm with my free right hand, trying to hold on it with my from being tugged by Axel.

"Oh just let me go already!"

"Hmph!" He slid his hand off my arm as he put his hands on his hips, looking at me with a satisfied vicious smile. My lips pressed together as I huffed in scorn, turning away to peer at my couch. "Stop smiling…." I sneered, going to my sofa to observe my washed clothes that were folded neatly on my couch. "Hey, at least a 'nobody' like me can smile at all…"Axel said.

"Mmm, touché…" I raised my old striped shirt and old pants in the air to examine them more clearly; they were spotless and smelled something like daisies. The torn part of my pants was sown together; probably Mrs. Dean's doing. I wanted to look at my underwear that was underneath, but Axel was in the room, so that was a no, so I had to block them out of his vision by my body. Underneath that was my cloak; it was clean as well and the ripped parts were sown back together. 'Yay for Mrs. Dean! She sure is a life saver…'

With that, I put all my clothes in my backpack that sat on the floor. Good thing my bag was spacious enough, but I didn't have that much stuff to pack anyway. "So are you ready to go?" Axel asked, sitting on my couch with his legs splayed. "Yeah, I guess so even though you're taking me against my will…" I moped, swinging my bag over my back, holding the straps with indifference. His brows rose in surprise, a small grin taking over his face. "Wow, who's the pessimist know?"

"I'm not pessimistic about it," my lips pursed with a shrug, "I'm just…mmm…" My head shook, erasing of telling that feminine thought.

"Oh yeah your legs hurt? How do you think I feel?"

"By all those naps, I would suspect you would be the early bird of every morning…

Before Axel could counter that, the door swung open, our heads turning to see who it was. "Alright let's hurry up and get back there!" an excited voice rushed. It was Kale who said that who stepped through the door with his finger pointed in the air like the leader of the family line, while his mother, father and Keesh followed. Kale sped into the kitchen, failing to notice our presence in the living room, but the rest of the Deans gave us an eye. "So is the thing starting now?" Axel asked, standing up to his feet. Mr. Dean was at the doorway of the kitchen appearing oiled in sweat on the forehead that shined from the dim light of the kitchen, exhaustion in his eyes though topping it off with a forced smile. "Yeah, it already started actually," Mr. Dean replied before heading into the kitchen while Kale exited the room with a box of ware. He finally looked in our direction, grinning when he saw our faces.

"Hey guys!" he said, walking towards us. "Hey Kale? What you been doing all day?" I asked, actually wondering was he still upset about last night. "Oh, y'know I've been helping out with the festival tonight," he replied, his voice singing with a bouncy tone. "Yeah, Axel was walking with me in town this morning, helping me out and stuff." He put the box down on the floor, huffing a breathe from carrying the heavy box. My brow rose, peering at Axel on my right side. "Oh was he?"

"Yeah 'he' was," Axel retorted, "Kale asked and so I helped, a friend helping a friend…" I nodded with a smile, turning back to Kale to wrap my arms around him in a hug. "H-Huh?" Kale stuttered, stiff with his arms to his sides like a robot. "Kale, I just want to say that I'm sorry about last night…"

"Last night?"

"Yeah about that cool story you told us?" I reminded him, holding his shoulders as I leaned off to observe his face. He appeared to not have remembered at first with his head tilted to the side, and then his perplexed mien changed to remembrance of the incident as his head straitened up. "Yeah…last night…" he brooded. I smiled. "Yeah well, after a long thought of thinking about it, it turns out that I believe you after all Kale, and so do Axel…"

"Huh?" Kale asked, his brows rising up like rockets, wanting to hear the reminisce of those words. I nodded. "Yeah Axel and me believe you now, because we know it's indeed true." He couldn't hold his smile even if he wanted to, beaming a huge smile as he raised his hands to his face, sucking his teeth as he breathed in his own indulgence. "Wow, you guys are the awesomeness people I've ever met!" Kale cheered as he shook his body in excitement, moving my hands off of him as I held my hands together, grinning with relief. 'Good, now I know that Kale won't have to worry about that anymore…'

"See, we didn't know how important that story really was Kale," Axel said, stepping up to Kale who peered at Axel to continue like he was the authority. "You just had to give us time to understand such a complex tale, got it memorized?"

"Yeah, I guess so Axel," he then looked back at me, "what made you guys see that it was true?" My lips pursed, indeed wondering how I should I explain this to him; my mind popped with an idea. I put my hands on my hips, smirking at Kale as I spoke conceitedly. "You know that weapon I use right Kale?" He nodded. "Yeah?"

"Well," I began, reaching for the blade to come to my hand. The upgraded silver weapon showed itself in the room like a treasure, having Axel step back at its new texture in awe. "You see this? This is what you call a Keyblade."

His eyes widened at the name, staring at my Keyblade. "T-That's what you call a Keyblade?" he stammered, pointing at the gleaming weapon. "She didn't stutter did she?" Axel snickered. Kale blinked, observing the weapon in disbelief. "Yeah, that story is real Kale because a Keyblade wielder like myself would know…"

'Even though I just took it as the truth by what Kingdom Hearts said…'

"I can't believe this," Kale said with a smile, "I'm best fiends with a Keyblade wielder…" Him saying that made my heart flutter.

"Hey you goin to leave me out?" Axel bickered with a joking streak. "You know that were bros," Kale responded. Axel crossed his arms with a grin. "I don't know about being bros by the way you and Kizuka be wailing it out." Both Kale and me laughed. "Yeah Axel's too old for that," I joked. "Hey watch it!" Axel snapped in embarrassment, only making Kale and me laugh even more. Mrs. Dean and her husband came out of the kitchen with a few bags in their hands. "Keesh you ready?" she hollered up the stairs.

"Yeah…"Keesh said as he descended from the stairs. I was surprised by what he had on; he as wearing a white dress shirt but seemed to be wearing the same blue jeans. They fitted nicely on him, heck; he even looked more handsome with his hair in that long ponytail. "You ready Keesh?" Kale began as he went up to him, "We've been waiting forever on you!"

"What? I was just deciding what to wear."

"Yeah, that's a big difference on your appearance."

"Shut up Kale!" Keesh snapped, glancing at me with a blush on his pale cheeks. Mrs. Dean told them to carry a few bags from the kitchen; Axel and me asked if we could help, but she said that was all they had to carry. I was in need for some soap, so I asked for a bar of soap and she gladly gave it to me. With that, we all left the house and entered the chirpy town. There were a few people walking behind and or in front of us taking the small shortcut to town. Within those few minutes I compliment Keesh on his shirt. "Keesh, you look dashing," I said turning my head on my left, his eye peering at me like a dart that couldn't be thrown. He grinned shyly. "Thanks…"

The pink spots on his face were gone now; standing in the shade was the natural medicine for him after all. I turned to look on my right; Axel had his hood on his head, appearing mysterious and almost unwelcoming. "Axel, if you're trying not to be seen, I advise you don't wear that hood 'cause people are just going to stare anyway," I said. Axel didn't want anyone to recognize him or else the weird girls would try to clobber him again; I seriously doubted that would work. His vague face looked back at me where I could only see the upside of his expression. "It will work. Got it memorized?"

"Yeah, whatever you say Mr. Incognito…" I said turning away with a smirk.

The town was magnificent to look upon; the shining orange lights glowed down the road of the small fanciful city as people strode past each other. People talking, children running, playing festival games and eating like they were just living just for today for this night. "Wow this so beautiful," I cheered.

"Hmm, this probably wasn't such a bad idea after all…" Axel resumed. We all headed past a gaming crowd and by a table where there were stacks of food piled in boxes. I looked back around, observing how a few people were eyeing Axel who walked by or was staring across from us. 'Axel's mission's going to be a total fail…'

All of us went to walk around, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Deans to go elsewhere. We walked around the town and viewed a few interesting game tournaments; one where people had to hold a egg on a spoon and walk a certain distance without dropping it; Kale urged me to do it with him but I refused to, but then Axel teased me about it, which I knew he was doing purposely so I could give in. Kale ended up doing it himself, only to lose within a few inches prior to the starting line.

There was a game where you had to draw under a time limit and the winner gets the drawing framed; I was totally up for that challenge since I was a pretty good drawer. Surprisingly, all of us attended the contest, even Keesh and Axel, but that was only because I called Axel a burnt chicken for not wanting to do it at first. I drew a person, Kale drew a messed up green dog, Keesh drew a guitar and Axel drew a Sea-salt Ice cream bar, his most favorite treat in the world, which was my time to tease him about. In the end I came in second place while Keesh came in third. A boy who drew a meadow won the prize, but I didn't really care anyway. After that we all sat down at a bench, well, more like me, Keesh and Kale did where Kale was between us; Axel had to stand because there wasn't enough room.

"Is this how you're supposed to treat adults?" Axel said, his arms crossed with his brow rose in a feign manner, looking at all three of us on the bench. His hood was finally off, so it was nice to see his face. "Well I do know you're supposed to treat girls like ladies so thank you Axel for letting me sit here," I said with impish innocence, looking on my left at Axel who turned back ahead from me. "Hmm, I guess I walked myself into that one," Axel responded with a huff. Keesh then spoke up. "Well, I'm going to get some ice cream." I turned to my right with a lean, looking at Keesh who was about to stand up. "Sea–salt?" Axel asked.

"No, Vanilla…"

"Oh…never mind then." I turned back at Axel with a glance. "Axel you got to expand your flavor choices, seriously…" I then got up giving my backpack to Axel, walking to stand next to Keesh. "I'll go with you kay?" He nodded. I then followed Keesh to the nearest ice cream stand, wondering why Kale didn't want any because it seemed like he would like some knowing him. "Two vanilla ice creams sir," Keesh said, pulling out munny from his pocket. The man pulled out two cones from a transparent bag that sat next to an ice cream maker on table behind him. He filled the cones with the thick filling in a mountain spiral until it couldn't go up anymore, handing the ice creams to Keesh. "Thank you," Keesh thanked while the man nodded at him with a smile. Keesh turned around, handing me a cool cone of white vanilla ice cream. "Thanks Keesh," I said, grabbing it from his hand for a good cold lick, "and thanks for paying for it."

We stepped away from the stand before Keesh could say, "No problem…" I smiled, licking the broad ice cream. "One wouldn't have thought you would a likeable guy Keesh huh?" I teased. His face turned to peer at me then looked away as he cleared his throat, licking his ice cream cone. "Huh, you're just saying that…I'm not that lik-"

His sentence stopped as his eye grew big. "Huh?" I asked, looking with him. I wasn't sure what he was looking at, but there were three girls standing opposite of us across the road chitchatting with each other. I then saw Keesh turn away to his side from looking ahead. My brows sunk at that timid display. "Huh? What is it?" I asked, trying to observe his face, placing my hand on his shoulder. He groaned, peering back at the girls then at me, turning his body to talk with his ice cream still up to his mouth. "That girl with the pigtails you see her?" I glanced at the girl with the black short hair who was just now walking off with her two other friends. "Yeah?"

"Well, I used to have a crush on her…" I was a bit bewildered as my tongue stopped the motion of licks. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, but it turned out she was one of the kids who used to tease me…"

"Mmm…"

I moaned, glancing at the ground. 'Poor Keesh…' I crossed my arm with the other on top, pointing my cone in a tipping manner as I looked back up. "They're so immature and stupid Keesh, you didn't really believe what they told you did you?" He shrugged, licking his ice cream. "Mmm, I tried not to, but it doesn't matter anymore. They were idiots and hopefully they have grown up and won't bother me now since I'm finally out the house."

'Some life Keesh has…does he have any friends here besides me?'

My sad eye then caught Keeshes grin.

"Ah, just forget about what I just told you okay? Don't want you to worry about me…" My brow rose at him, trying to hide the fact that I was slightly worried. "I-I'm not worried, I mean I know you can take care of your self." Lately, I was getting tired of people thinking I was a worrywart, who I know I'm not…but then again maybe I am. He chuckled, starting to walk off back towards where we came from, so I followed. Axel was sitting in my spot when we came back while Keesh went to sit in his seat about to finish off his ice cream. I huffed at the occupied seat of boys. "Great now I have no where to sit…" I complained, shifting my leg to the other.

"Guess not," Axel agreed in menace, staring back at me with an amused smirk. I whipped a stare at him, placing a hand on my hip as I began to feel my half eaten ice cream about to melt in my hand. "Hmph, fine then," I said, stepping up to Axel, licking up the streaks of liquid on the side of my treat. "I guess I just have to sit on your lap," I said with a grin. Axel then became stiff in his relaxed posture, his face turning pink as he formed an X using his arms above his legs. "No way am I going to let you do that, you're going to crush my legs!"

My heart throbbed as my eyes shot him bullets, feeling my mood suddenly changing. "Idiot you are not supposed to insult a woman's weight!" I opposed, slapping his leg with my one free hand. "Ow, I was just joking sheesh!" Axel bickered, rubbing his spanked leg in offense. "Hmph, just so you know I wasn't serious about that anyway…" I said, turning around from a piqued Axel.

"Well, I still wasn't going to let you sit here either," Axel said. I crossed my arms ignoring him. 'That Axel…'

"You can sit on my lap," Kale offered, making all our heads turn at him to see him with a smile on his face. I grinned at him, petting his head. "Thanks but I wasn't really serious about it Kale, just wondering what Axel would say if I told him that," I said, glaring at a disturbed Axel. Kale shrugged as I leaned away from him. "Alright then…"

Keesh then spoke up, rising from his spot on the bench. "Deonna you can sit in my seat…" he said. I looked at him, smiling at how gallant he can be. "Thank you Keesh for being a gentleman," I said, thanking him with a hug. I let go, sitting in his spot as I observed his hardened stance, his facing peering in a different direction as he blushed. I giggled, and then looked at a shocked Axel, appearing blank in the face. My legs crossed as I gave Axel some advice. "See Axel? You can learn something from Keesh hmm?" I said, trying to make him feel abashed as I bit into my cone. Axel turned away with his brows in arrows. "Ugh, fine, you can sit here happy?" Axel said, looking back at me with his lips pursed, almost appearing guilt-ridden. I sighed in a huff.

"To late, you had your chance Axel…" I replied, turning away as I bit into my cone some more.

"Dag I pushed the wrong buttons this time…" I heard him mumble to himself, sulking.

"Totally," Kale responded.

"Shut up…"

"I'm going to see how mom and dad's doing," Keesh said, giving my attention to him, "Okay? I'll be right back…" Kale then got up. "I'm coming to cause I need some munny anyway," Kale said. Keesh sighed like he didn't want him to come. "Huhh, fine Kale," he then looked back at us as he walked away. "We'll be back…"

"Please, take your time!" Axel hollered. Keesh gave him a black look and then turned back in the direction he was heading. Now it was just Axel and I on the bench; for me it was uncomfortable since I was still upset with that red headed jerk. I placed my elbow on the arm of the ribbon bench, propping my head up as I finished the last bits of cone in my other hand, not wanting to peer in Axel's direction. Warmness closed in on the side of my body. Confused, my head peered to the side to see Axel closer to my position with his head near my ear. My heart sped as he whispered, "Looks like Keesh has an eye for you…"

My shoulders rose and fell, trying not to show how mortified I was by his closeness. "Maybe he do maybe he don't. I try not to care about that…"

'But, it's pretty obvious huh?'

"So how do you feel about him with those girly emotions huh?" My eyes widened as my heart dropped. "Ugh, nothing Axel," I said, straightening my position so he would lean off of my space. My eyes narrowed at his amusement-tattooed face.

"Keesh is alright… but wait, lets stop talking about me," I said as my hands fluttered in an ending gesture. I really didn't like talking about liking boys and stuff anyway like what happened at Jian's place at Twilight Town, but it was really weird when I was talking to a guy about it. It just made me feel weird and nervous and I would probably blush like mad if I did talk about. I replaced my frown with a grin.

"But how about you Axel?"

"Huh?"

"Did you have any crushes?" It was know my turn to see his reaction. His small brows twisted as he scratched the back of his head in an uneasy manner. "Geez why you trying to pry into my life?"

"What? We know each other really well now Axel. Its about time we get to know each other a little more huh?" He groaned, my ears hearing the reluctance in his voice as he turned away, and then faced me again. "Hmm, uhm, well, I used to in my past life and such, y'know?" My brows rose in surprise, holding my hands against the bench seat with my weight. "Really?"

He turned away, his brows curved as he looked down at the ground. "Yeah, but it wasn't nothing serious…like…" he said, picking out thoughts from his head as he peered back up in thought. "Oh…puppy love was it? Yeah it was that sorta thing…" he remembered, looking back at me with a faint grin. My hands clasped together as I exclaimed. "Aww, that's so cute…" I teased.

"Mmm…" he groaned, wiping his cheek then scratching his chin. "Well, how about you?"

My eye peered away at the orange sky as my lips pursed in thought. "Well, just a few…just like you said nothing serious…"

"Oh that's all you going to say when I just told you almost about everything about me?"

"What? I don't have that much to say…" I shrugged, grinning at him. He rolled his eyes as he looked away with a smirk. "Whatever…" I then felt his hand on my head like my skull was a footstool to his hand. I tittered to myself, observing a person carrying flowers in a basket, waking in front of us. Axel then disturbed my gazing stare.

"You like flowers?"Axel asked.

"Hmm? Oh yeah I do…" I then leaned over to prop my head on my hand with my elbows piercing my lap. "Never heard a girl who didn't," Axel continued, "but maybe one…hmmm…what's your favorite?" I sighed, starting to feel a bit tired from all this excitement today. "Roses…"

After I said that, Axel moved his hand off of my head, standing up to his feet as I leaned back, wondering what he was about to do. He had a pleasant smile on his face like he was happy about something. He waved his hand up in a gesture, motioning for me to stand. "Deonna, I want to show you something really nice," he said. "Hmm?" I then got up, grasping my bag off the ground where Axel sat it. "What is it?"

"It's a surprise, come on…" he said, staring to walk off in the direction behind the bench, peering behind his back to see would I follow. 'Mmm, but what about Keesh and Kale?' I thought, strolling behind him to ask that question.

"But what about Keesh and Kale?"

"Hmm, hopefully we'll be back before they're done with whatever there doing."

Axel took me upon two roads of decorative streets before we made it to the fields, where the roads had lanterns that lit up on its sides when it became dark I presumed. We passed a small park where every metal appliance seemed to light up from the sun's shining glare; it was empty of any children there. We walked pass that park and headed down a empty road where a giant hill came into view with a tree was on top like a candle, the sun reflecting off its light on the green leaves; Axel said we had to go up there. I decided to race Axel up to see who would win. Axel wasn't amused of my little challenge, but I nagged him and teased him about being a burnt chicken again; that set him off, racing me up the hill like that Jack and Jill story. My feet pressed towards the top, falling on my knees as I panted over the soft grass.

"I-I won!" I said in between breaths, glancing behind my back to look at Axel who came up a few moments later, gasping for air with his frail build, trying to hold himself up by leaning on his knees. "Y-yeah…whatever…" Axel replied, standing back straight in heavy breaths, walking up behind me with a slow stride.

"Hurry up grandpa!"

"Hey at least I ran alright!"

"Ah ha ha ha!" I laughed, his tall body hovering above from behind, trying to intimidate me; that only made me laugh more. He crossed his arms with a chuckle, shaking his head as he peered ahead of himself. I looked with him at the sight ahead of me. The sun was a glorious red orange, the sky reminiscing the different hues of the colors that came from the soft glow of light that came from an ending sun. The landscape at the bottom was faint of pale and green colors mixed in together almost like a painting, with houses in different areas with their many plantations. My breathing slowed down, smiling at such a pretty sight that Axel has found. "Wow, this is really nice Axel…"

"Yeah? Well I knew you would like it." My legs overlapped each other to a more relaxed position, holding my weight by my right arm. I moaned as the soft breeze tickled my skin, thinking about the time me and Axel were at Twilight Town observing the sun just like this. Axel came up to my right side, sitting down next to me with his leg bent up and the other out in front, his right arm resting on the right leg in what appeared to be in ecstasy. He had that glow again…the one that I liked. "Axel, how'd you find this place?"

"Mmm, found it earlier in the day when I was out," he said, staring at the scene, only glancing at me slightly. "Oh…well that's cool," I said, turning away, wondering what else to talk about. My lips made a fine line, an intriguing question I was bound to ask later on, but why not now? My legs rose up to my chest, turning my face back towards Axel to get his attention. "Axel how old are you anyway?"

His head twisted back at me with a staggered expression on his face. "Uh heh…" he hesitated, grinning in perplexity. "Sorry, I wasn't quite expecting that type of question right now." My brows arched with eager eyes. "Come on, you can't hide your age forever, so tell me it," I nagged, grinning at him.

He sighed, leaning back on his arms as he answered, "Twenty-two…"

My lips cracked open at his answer, then the corners of my mouth turned into a small smile as I turned back at the sun. "Oh, I knew you weren't that old after all," I teased. "How old are you again?" Axel asked.

My brows twisted as I looked back at his glowing tattooed face that appeared innocent in the sun's glow. "Axel you already know…eighteen. Got it memorized?" I said, mimicking his signature phrase with a grin. His head shook, tittering to himself as he got up, appearing as a black tower above. He then waked towards the tree on our right that was a few feet away from us, bending down next to the trunk of the tree. 'What is he doing now?' I thought, my brows arched in thought.

'Always doing something is he?'

I shrugged my shoulders, looking back at the sun to see it about to escape the world for another day, the sky's color turning into purple and blue hues on the small streaked clouds above. My right eye saw movement on the side of me, having me peer back at Axel who had a relaxed smile on his face. Just then, Axel asked a question that was out of the blue. "Do you think I'm spontaneous?" Axel said, placing his arms across his chest.

"Yeah," I agreed with a laugh, holding my hands together that sat on my erected knee caps, "by the way you can go from place to place with that tunnel thingy; yeah, I think you can be spontaneous."

"Heh, well I like you saying that because I got something for you here?"

'Wait-huh?' My brow went up while the other went down, about to ask what it was before Axel took something out from his pocket. A red rose emerged from his hand, lifting it up in mid-air for me to stare at in awe. My eyes grew wide at the small object in his hand as my heart sped in speed. My eyes blinked repeatedly, my muscles retracting as I stood up to my feet, gaping at the red rose. "A-Axel why y-" I stuttered, not knowing how to put my words into question. Axel chuckled at the shocked sight in front of him, stepping up to me, handing me the rose to take from his hand. "See?" he began, his smile charming and handsome as he spoke, "this is my gift to you, a present I can give to you anytime…"

I smiled shyly at him, feeling my cheeks warm at my own body heat, taking the rose from his hand for a nice cool smell. "Awww…Axel this is soo sweet of you…" I said, looking back at him as my I tried to control my own heartbeat. 'So that's the reason why Axel asked me for my favorite flower…what should I do for him now? Does Axel like me? No he can't like me- it's just friendly gift that's all…'

Sure Axel was annoying at times and got on my nerves almost repeatedly through out the day, but that was that sweet part about him that he probably didn't even know about, and this is one of them. Though it was hard to tell by the soft light of the sun on his face, his cheeks changed to a red color, turning his head to the side to avert his eyes away from me as he scratched his head with his hand. 'Aww Axel's so cute…' I smiled, knowing what I should do for him in return. I took a deep breath, held my rose in my right hand as I called his name. "Axel?"

"Y-yea?" he stuttered, he said, keeping his face towards the ground.

My lips pursed, reaching my left arm at his neck for a grasp, pulling his head down at my lips for a kiss on his cheek. I let go, already knowing what he was looking like at about now. His face was crimson red, staring at me with wide green eyes in his stiff upright position. I smiled, giggling to myself as he turned around from my direction, rubbing his hair with both hands this time. I leaned to the side with my hands behind my back, trying to see the side of his face.

"Axel? You okay," I said with another giggle.

After a moment, Axel spoke in a calm voice. "Why you always do that?"

"Huh? Do what?" I asked, capturing my balance by standing straight. His face turned at profile. "Y'know what you do…"

"What? Saying thank you?"

"That was a thank you?"

"Yeah, but you deserved that type of thanks from me," I said with a smile.

He cleared his throat, his head staring back ahead again. "Hmmm…but still, you always make me feel…" he said, his sentence fading off. My heart raced in anticipation. "What Axel?"

"Huh…you're too caring for your own good…"

"What? Are you supposed to care about your friends, especially when they give you a rose…" I countered, placing my hand on my hip while the other went up at my nose with the rose for a sniff. He finally turned back in my direction, his face soft with a gentle gaze and smile.

"And you hug too much…" he said, patting my head with his hand. My body tried to relax from his touch, but I couldn't help my body temperature to cool down. I smiled. "Oh? You want another hug Axel?" I asked, reaching my arms out for him with playfulness. His face tensed as he lowered his hand off my head, stepping back with his hands at his chest for space. "No no I'm alright thanks…" he said, cowering with a blush. I smirked with menace, stepping up to him as he walked backwards. "What? It's only a hug?"

After that, I was chasing him for an embrace that he didn't want. We were running on the now darkened hill like children for a few minutes until I caught him with my arms around his waist. He yelped in surprise from my grasp, trying to detach me from his waist as I held on tighter, giggling and laughing at his failed attempts. While in the mist of my mirth, he finally pulled my hands off of him, holding my hands firmly as he spoke. "Deonna we're only going to stay at the festival for a little while alright?" My giggles faded. "Huh? How long then?"

"Probably one or two hours. Got it memorized?"

"Alright, that sounds like something we can both handle," I said with a grin. He nodded, letting my hands go.

* * *

We descended from the hill, heading back to the roads were the hanging lanterns were in a tranquil glow of light as they hung from the poles. The town was lit up of lights and people, talking, eating; fun was the theme for this night. "Man there sure are a lot of people here," Axel said. "No Kidding," I agreed.

"It's like a town in disguise, you don't really know how big this place really is until you see how many people live here."

'Yeah that is so true.'

Axel's hand clasped together, turning to me. "Well I'm goin to go grab some grub. Wanna come?"

"Uhm…" I looked to my left and saw a line of people at a table wanting some soups, salads and what not. To my right across the center of the road was another line of people wanting to munch on cakes and desserts. 'Ai yai yaiii…so much people.'

"Hello? Wait, you want me to get it for you?" Axel asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked back at him with a nod. "Yeah, get me anything, I don't care," I crossed my arms, "I don't really feel like standing in a line…"

"Oh? You're legs hurt or something?"

"Mmm, maybe a little bit and I'm tired now."

"Heh, welcome to my world princess…" Axel said, walking away to get in a line, putting his hood on his head. "I'll be back!"

I sighed, looking for a bench to sit on that wasn't far away from Axel. Behind me was a chunk load of people on two benches back to back; that was a no. I went to my right across the center of the road where a mark of a circle in swirls was embedded on the brick like a symbol. I spotted a free bench and sat on it, resting my bag on my left so no one would take it. In those few minutes I watched a couple of men set up large stoned rocks in a giant circle on top of the symbol, while layering wide-long wood into a giant tepee. "They going to make a fire?" I mumbled.

My head turned to my right and left, trying to see if I saw any familiar faces. "Huh…where are Keesh and Kale? Man I knew we shouldn't left them like that…"

'I really want to see them before we go…'

My head lowered, crossing my arms tiredly. Right then I heard that all so familiar voice, glancing at his booted feet that came under my eyes. My eyes peered up, looking at the two plates of food in Axel's hands and two bottles of water under his armpits, his hood still hiding his face. "Here ye go," Axel said, handing me a plate of corn on a cob and cabbage with a frosted cupcake on the side. I smiled at my plate of food, almost about to drool. "Thanks…"

After that we started eating our food while watching the men throw the wood ablaze with fire. My eyes lit up at the sight, watching the dancing flames swirl as the sparks tried to float into the night sky, feeling the heat tingle my exposed skin. "Ah I've seen better…" Axel said, his hood finally down now. I rolled my eyes, licking my lips from biting into my chocolate cake.

"Yeah, you are pyro man anyway…"

"You know it." I gulped down some water from my water bottle, just now realizing this my first time eating today. 'Great, this means I'm going to be really hungry later…'

"No sorry, not interested so beat it…" I heard Axel say in scorn. "Hmm?" I asked, turning to my left wondering whom he was talking to. "What Axel?" Just then, I saw a long blonde hair girl with her hands to her face, walking away in whimpers away from the bench where Axel sat. My brows twisted in confusion. 'Uh…what just happened?' Axel shook his head like he read my mind, his brows showing he was vexed.

"Did you just tell her to bug off Axel?" I asked in disbelief. He shrugged like it was nothing, a spoonful of cabbage entering his mouth. "What? You can't act all nice when people are trying to get a piece of you…"

"Uh…" Yeah he was right about that…I did the same thing when guys tried to talk to me and such and if they kept bothering me I would stomp their foot. I turned back at my half eaten plate. 'Well, can't blame those girls…he is a cutie- I mean-ugh…never mind…'

"Hey guys!" a loud voice said on my right. I turned and saw Kale running up to us, bumping into people and apologizing as he ran. I smiled at his cheerfulness, halting in front of us in a breathy huff. "Where you guys go? We were looking for you guys!"

"Heh, blame Axel for that then…" I said, glancing at Axel who had a guilty grin on his face. "Sorry, I'm at fault," Axel said with a shrug. I turned back and saw Keesh behind Kale. "Hey Keesh, miss us?" I joked. He just grinned, looking at the fire that was a few feet from us, his skin glowing from the orange light. My ears then heard a flow of music coming from the side of the fire; men were playing instruments in happy dancing melodies. People started jumping around in a giant circle around the fire; it looked like fun. Kale squealed as he jumped up towards the circle, and then stopped as he turned back around at us with a cheesy grin. "Come on guys! Lets do it!" Kale exclaimed, running in place like a restless puppy.

I smiled, standing up with the empty plate in my hand. "Yeah I'm doing it," I turned to Keesh who was looking at me curiously. "You doin it Keesh?" He smiled. "If you do it then I'm doin it because it would be boring if it was just me and Kale…"

"Alright," I then turned to Axel who was still sitting, looking at me with indifference. "Do it with us Axel please!" I begged, standing in front of him, hunching with my hands on my knees as I looked into his eyes with eagerness. He sighed, crossing his arms like a little kid. He leaned back, splaying his legs out. "But I don't wanna…sheesh."

"Please? It'll be fun!" I said, looking sad so he could give in. His eyes closed with a huff. "I guess I don't have a choice do I?"

"Nope you sure don't!" I then grabbed his hand, pulling him off the bench. 'Alright!" Kale cheered, racing us towards the motioned line of people. We threw our garbage away and went towards the circle; Keesh followed while I dragged a reluctant Axel with me. We were soon within the circle in a few moments, going around and around in laughs, racing with the beat of the music; even Axel was having a good time, running and jumping with me on my left and Keesh doing the same on my right. The heat of the fire made me hot, but the wind helped me to keep going as the breeze hit my face by the constant motions of the circle. This lasted for moments of enjoyment, making this my favorite day being in this world. We were all out of breath when it was over, heading towards the bench where we were sitting at before.

To our sad surprise, some old people took the bench seat. "Uh great!" I complained, leaning on a bent Axel who was huffing over his knees. Just then I realized that I forgot something. My bag. My eyes widened, glancing at Keesh and Kale on my left. "Guys! I left my bag at the bench!" My hands clenched in fists as I ran towards the seat, hoping no one took it. I asked the old man and woman did they see a black bag on the bench; they denied seeing one. My happiness slowly faded from that answer, turning around to see Keesh, Axel and Kale behind me with troubled faces. I held my arms over my chest, feeling my eyes hurt from the swelling of tears behind my eyes as I looked at them. "I-I lost my bag…"

"Uh man…this sucks," Axel said, sounding a bit worried himself. My head lowered, feeling his gloved hand sit on my head as he stepped up to me, placing his other arm around my neck. "Don't worry we'll find it before we leave…"

'Was this a hug?'

"I guess one of us should have been holding it," Keesh said, "I'm sorry Deonna…"

"Mmm…it's alright…" I said, not wanting him to worry. Then an ecstatic voice interrupted our gloomy setting. "Keesh and guys!"

"Huh?" My head shot up in the direction of the familiar voice that came from my right, having Axel's hand slip off in surprise. It was Mrs. Dean, and she was holding my black bag in her hand and waving at us in the distance with the other as she strode up to us. "Uh…" The corners of my lips turned into a smile, wiping my eyes, running up to her for a hug. "Oh Mrs. Dean I thought someone stole my bag…" I said with a giggle, letting her go. She smiled. "Oh I'm sorry for worrying you. When I saw it on that bench I knew it was yours, so I just took it incase someone wanted to take it for themselves when I saw you guys go into that circle earlier."

"Oh, well thanks a lot…" She gave me my bag, swinging it on my back. 'Never going to do that again…'

"So when you and Axel leaving?" Keesh asked who was standing on my left, his eyes squinting for an answer. I turned to look at him, opening my mouth but closing it with no good reply. "Uhmm…Axel?" I asked, turning to my other side, looking at Axel for an answer.

"Well, honestly I think we did good today and had fun and stuff, but I think we should be going now," Axel answered with calmness. My brows lowered. "Uh, I guess so…" My body turned in Keeshes direction, noticing Kale standing on his side with a poignant expression. "Aw you guys going now?" Kale asked. I nodded. "Yeah, I guess we are…"

"You guys comin back right?" Keesh asked. I smiled. "Yeah, of course we'll visit Keesh." He sighed, rubbing his nape as he looked down. "Alright…"

My head tilted, gazing at Keeshes sad features. 'Uh, poor Keesh…' I astounded Keesh with an embrace, letting him go with a kiss on the cheek. His cheeks turned red, his brows raised in shock. I giggled from his expression, giving Kale a hug and a kiss as well. It was Kale's turn to blush, his mouth open as he gaped at me. I laughed.

"Guys stop looking like that!"

Keesh cleared his throat as I turned back to Axel, seeing his hands were on his hips, turning his head away as he spoke. "Gee, and I thought I was special…"

"Axel make sure you take care of Deonna you hear?" Keesh said. "Yeah, I already know that…" he said, peering back at me with a grin. I sighed.

"Guy's I'm an adult now…"

"Yeah yeah we know…" Axel said, waving his hand as to brush my statement off. "We'll let's hit the road Deonna…"

"Alright then…" I said, following Axel. "Bye guys and Mrs. Dean!"

"Take care!" Mrs. Dean and Keesh said.

"Don't forget us!" Kale yelled in tears.

We headed towards the fields where no one was in sight, only the lanterns that hung from the poles gave us light for travel on the empty roads. I put on my cloak, preparing myself for the darkness of Axel's tunnel. "Wow look at that…" Axel said in awe. "Hmm?" I moaned, looking at Axel who was staring at the sky in wonder. My eyes followed his gaze, finding a pale orange moon in the sky. My eyes glistened from the creepy marble in the night with its many tiny lights beckoning its awake.

"Wow I love these types of moons…"

"Yeah, you like a lot of things that have to do with nature huh?" Axel said. I peered back at him. "You do to Axel…especially those sunsets, and for thinking of that rose…" I said, remembering the flower that was in my bag, hoping it wasn't squished.

He grinned, flickering his wrist for the portal to rise from the ground.

* * *

**Deonna's such a hugger :3**

**Review please!**


	16. A Love Found in a Curse

**Sorry it took me forever to upload this ^^; Two weeks has it been? Well I hope this makes up for it ^^ It might be hard to update like I want to tho  
**

**_Warning: Female bleeding occur_** .

_**Disclaimer: (Look in first chapter)**_

* * *

**A Love Found in a Curse**

Humidity. That was what I hated; the icky damp feeling that was misted on top of your skin. The area was warm and wet, but it didn't start to have an effect on me until I realized how long I've been staring at my surroundings.

"If you like nature," Axel began who stood in front of me, his hands placed on his hips with that grin of his, "I'm sure you'll have a kick out of this place." I huffed a laugh, wondering exactly how we were going to do this. This new world he took me to, a glimpse of what a jungle actually looks like was fascinating; the birds of macaws crowing through the leafy bug trees, the sound of insects that I've never even heard of before sounding off echoes that kept me aware of my surroundings. Everywhere my eyes turned to there was green, and the only unusual color was Axel's fire red head, trying to mimic the golden orange flowers that was scattered almost all around on the ground in the thin grass.

"So," Axel began, crossing his arms in a relaxed manner, "you think we should try this place or no?" I looked at him with dubiousness. "Uhm…"

'Does he think we should stay or not? He was the one who took us here.'

"I mean come on, what does your," he stepped up to me as he leaned forward, holding up his hands with the peace sign, folding them mockingly as he said, "spirit of your heart say?" I ignored his sly smirk as he leaned off, gazing on my right and left at the streak lit area of vegetation, trying to rely on my gut feeling of this spacious place. 'What does my heart say? Gee, Axel must not know how difficult it is to do that… ' The only thing my heart was telling me was that it wanted to pump the blood into my veins, but besides that something else had me reconsider that thought. My eyes gazed into the covered sky above, the green vines hanging from the tall jungle trees like snakes, blocking my view from peering at the blue sky. Besides the horrid humidity that was probably oiling my face about now, something about this deep jungle made my body want to stay put on its thin soil. That was what my gut feeling was telling me; one just knows. My head came from looking up to eye a curious Axel, my hand reaching where my heart was that seemed to float inside of me. "Yeah, let's stay here Axel. I'm sure we'll get something out of this place," I responded, grinning at his unaffected calm features. He sighed, closing his eyes to only open them up again. "Okay then, you is the boss…"

"Ha! Really? I like the sound of that…" I said in teasing vain, crossing my arms as my brows rose at him in amusement. He chuckled as he turned around, taking small steps forward with his hands on his hips as I followed. "Alright then missy lets look as much as we can." I nodded behind his back, watching my feet from stepping on the blossomed orange flowers that lined the massive tree trunk that stretched to the other side of our path from my right. I gazed from looking at Axel's back to the ground, my brows sinking in thought.

'Sora… could you be here?' I thought, remembering my last encounters at Harvest town.

We haven't been in this world that long, but now my legs were starting to ache again, as well as the lower portion of my back. My teeth were bare. "Ohh…ow…" I groaned, arching my upper body up, reaching my right hand to rub my aching back. 'Man why am I feeling like this all of a sudden? Even my legs…' I peered at my pelvis, rubbing my thigh as if trying to soothe the pain. 'Did I do too much earlier? Partying at night does come with a price though…but still this is not the time…'

I looked back up from my legs, only to crash my body into the side of Axel who I unknowingly stopped. "Ah, s-sorry…" I stuttered, stumbling back as I regained my balance. My heartbeat increased as I saw Axel staring back at me, his body turned to his side with apprehensiveness in his face. "Ah you okay there?" Axel asked as his lips formed in a thin line.

My eyes adverted his soft gaze towards the earthly trees, holding my warm hands behind my back as I spoke. "Uh yeah, I'm okay…" I felt my body become hotter as Axel looked away towards the ground, scratching his head as he hummed to himself. "Mmm, you sure 'cause both of us could've ended up on the ground if it wasn't because of you." He then looked back at me, reminding me of a puppy for some reason, turning his full body to me now. I grinned in abashment, feeling my face heat up even more. "Yeh, I was just thinking of things that's all…"

He grinned with a small chuckle, placing his hands on his hips. "You tired aren't cha? Just say that you're tired sheesh," he said, shaking his head as he rolled his small eyes smugly.

'He noticed? Of course he did…'

My fake disguise was now gone as my shoulders slumped over, my knees bent in weariness. "Yea, you've figured me out. I am totally out of it."

"Hmm, well we did do a lot at that other world huh?"

"Yeah, and if we were still there it would be night time, man I'm tired…" Axel crossed his arms while his one brow rose while the other fell. "Geez and I thought you were the optimistic one…you sure have been complaining a lot…" My face tensed as I straightened my posture, crossing my arms. "Well sorry for not being the cupcake you want me to be," I said, turning away at the sound of squeaky monkey in the trees, "and I'm not complaining that much…"

"Heh, I second that."

Just then, my heart sunk due to the feeling of something near, an entity that could shrivel up a heart. My eyes widened, turning my head in all directions as my legs jumped into a sturdy stance for battle. I ignored Axel who questioned what was wrong, but instead let a black ball of a heartless do the talking. "Ah what's this?" Axel asked, eyeing along with me at a snake like heartless.

"Do I really need to answer…?"

The heartless was black with blood red eyes, the color of a bee's yellow stripe spiraling along its body, disguising its face with a cheeky smile; The heartless was giant, almost as big as that Cerberus dog, sitting in its curled up cocoon. "Ah man what is that?" Axel asked in mild shock, though who tried to hide it in his tired tone. "Sly, slithery, does any of that ring a bell?" I turned to Axel who I realized was staring back at me with darted eyes. "I know what it is smart-mouth, I'm just saying I haven't seen this heartless before…and it's huge!" Axel said, turning back to look at the lean creature, summoning his weapons for a fight. "Snakes…" Axel growled, running up to the heartless like a roadrunner, swiping his weapon at the hissing creature.

My brows furrowed into a hard state, calling my own weapon to my right hand. 'Never seen before…rise of darkness is it?' I threw my bag to the side like a trash bag. Before I could join Axel at his target, I sensed another ball approach like smog from behind. "Wha?" My body spun, clenching my blade in my hand like a baseball bat, staring at the new two heartless snakes that have came to join the party, laying just a few feet from me beside a vine up tree on the right. I sighed, running at an opened jawed snake that shot out a pissing liquid from its mouth.

'The days just keep getting better and better…' I groaned, twisting my body at the side, avoiding the foul smelling liquid as I jumped at it for a taste of my Keyblade. The sound of a painful hiss pierced my ears, having me halt my second attack from the ground. "Ahh!" I yelped, forcing my hands to my ears as I felt a slithery rope wrap around my left ankle. "Eh!" I looked down, finding myself pulled off the ground by my foot, hitting the back of my head in the process. "Ah!" I muffled in pain, struggling to get out of the snake's tight grasp. "Ahh A-Axel!" I yelled, dangling from the air from the end of the other snake's tail.

My vision was now upside down, but I could still see both of the snakes hissing at me aggressively. 'My Keyblade!' I called my blade to my hand, shooting an ice cast at the snake that was holding me. It shot into its eye, having its grip on me falter at first, and then tightened up again as it hissed. This only made the other heartless snake clash its mighty tail against my body like a whip, producing mass amount of pain on my side muscles. My teary eyes widened as I held my lips together to hold in my shout, feeling like a hanging meat sack in a butcher shop. My teeth clenched, griping my blade as my squinted eyes stared at the heartless that was holding me, who was about to open its devious red mouth for a squirt. My brows furrowed as I bit my lip from the remaining pain, my heart racing as I grabbed the tail upward like a rope.

"Take this!" I hollered, shooting my blade like a dart at the heartless face.

"Grarrrrssss!" The heartless shrieked, shaking its head from side to side as it vanished in a puff of smoke. With that I fell to the ground on my back, landing on a big root from the tree that could have pierced my back. My teeth gritted as I ignored the pain in my back, scurrying to my two feet as I saw a flamed disk hit the remaining heartless that was attacking me. It growled from the fiery hit as Axel jumped from behind me at the heartless. My eyes grew small as I groaned, though a bit of relief nested inside of me. 'About time he helped me!'

I looked at my hand for my blade, calling it to me once again as I thought of what just happened to the first heartless that was destroyed. I looked back up, pointing my blade at the contemptuous heartless, hoping to hit it with a blizzard cast. But I hesitated when I saw Axel get whipped by the snake from the ground, sending him flying in the air feet's away from us, my ears hearing his loud grunt and crash. My jaw was left unhinged, gasping at what my eyes just witnessed. My brows formed razors, my eyes shooting back at the heartless as I ran up to it, watching out for its giant tail that came from above about to smash me like a cookie. Instead I jumped on its tail, stepped upon its giant spirals as I shot multiple blizzards at its face. As it screeched in pain, I jumped from its top curled tail, ending the heartless with a hit of my blade. The heartless disappeared from my sight in dust as I landed in a crouch on my aching feet, my fist helping me to hold my weight that knuckled the ground.

I gasped for air through my mouth with my eyes closed tightly, my heart beating of pounding rocks against my chest from that intense battle of a heartless. I looked back up at the green area, sending my blade away as I felt the sweat on face roll down like rain, listening to the sound of a loud monkey. During my battle I couldn't hear the chirping birds or the sound of apes that reminiscent the sounds of the jungle, but know that I was sitting here; I couldn't ignore those sounds even if I tried. My breathing slowed as I exhaled through my nose, closing my eyes once more for my eyes to relax, just until I remembered what happened to my fallen comrade.

'Axel!'

With that thought my head shot up in anxiousness, standing up on my wobbly legs as I began a start run for Axel who fell somewhere on the right side of the battle scene. 'Ooh I hope Axel's okay…'

Before I could pace myself even longer, my anxious eyes spotted a walking figure heading in my direction feet's away from me, almost tripping over something as the figure progressed further, shuffling its feet through the bushes of the dry earth. My heart jumped in happiness, relieved knowing who that person could be. Axel was walking towards me, his back hunched over with his right hand pressing on the aching area as if to ease the pain. I gulped, running up to him with anticipation, stepping over the undergrowth of grass and mold that embellished the soil.

"Axel are you alright!" I asked in eagerness, stopping in front of his frail body, my tiredness now starting to flow away by this turn of events. Axel's face showed vex, where his brows were wrinkled in frustration, his body still hunched over in soreness. "Y-Yeah I'm alright, crashing landing on my butt didn't hurt," he said in sarcasm, straightening his posture as he arched back in a stretch, hearing the sound of a cracking bone. My eyes gazed at him, seeing how his waist extended from relief, my hand beating with the sound of my heart as he came back down to look at me. I adverted my gaze, finding it hard to swallow as my body became warmer than before. "Gee you don't have to be sarcastic…" I said, hiding my face from him and what I just saw of his body.

My hot ears heard him chuckle, gawking back up to see what was funny. He was smiling at me, his hands on his hips with his green eyes bright. "I saw you fall straight on your back from the air right? That must have hurt like heck." I sighed, rubbing my hip. "Pfft yea, I'm surprised I didn't hit my head on that stickin' root…" At that moment, the bump on the back of my head pulsed like a drum. I winced, squinting my eyes as I peered down at my feet, touching the knot that I got from hitting my head on the ground earlier.

"Here Deonna take this…" Axel said, my teary eye focusing up at Axel who held a container in his hand. "Drink it, it's Elixir…" he said as I grabbed it out of his hand, drinking the small bottle of potion; it had a sweet taste, a bit of alcohol in its properties as I gulped it down. Once finished, it disappeared out of my hand, having its healing substances ease my remaining pain and tiredness. I didn't realize my lips were turned up into a smile, surprised at how that elixir worked for my body; though the constant tad bit of tiredness was still there, the pain seemed to almost vanish. "Wow, that was good Axel!" I exclaimed, looking back at him to see his pleasant beaming smile. "Did you have a bottle of this for your pain?" I asked. He nodded. "Yeah I drunk some of that before I gave it to you," he said casually. My smile turned into disgust, feeling my heartbeat nonstop. "Wait your mouth was on that?" He grinned, a smug expression on his face. "Yeah so?"

My brows arched, a pique sensation riding on my nerves, my body heating up at the realization. "Axel that's nasty! Why you do that!" I wasn't a fan of sharing some else's saliva with my own, for instance such as drinking a bottle after somebody already drunk from it; it always weirded me out. Axel's amused expression turned to annoyance, sighing as he walked past me with his eyes closed. "At least I cared enough to share the rest with you…"

I looked back at him, my irritableness easing down at what Axel said, my face softening as my vexed coaster halted due to guilt. 'Can't argue with that…' My brows sunk, shamefaced. Axel spoke again, turning his head at the side. "Well let's collect the things the heartless dropped and get out of here huh?"

"Mmm…yeah…" I ran up behind him, heading back to the scene of the battle. We collected the goods and my forgotten backpack. After that, we started back walking like before, through the dense jungle.

* * *

"So how do we know where we're going is the right way?" I asked, after a few minutes of stepping over rocks and moss covered tree roots, my stomach cramping. "Huh…that Sora kid…like trying to find a treasure map in the sand," Axel responded, not really answering my question. I tittered at him, gripping the straps of my bag. "But seriously, how far are we gonna go 'cause my feet are aching and I'm still tired…" I rambled in complaint, the feeling that every step I took my feet was being pierced by nails on the leathery ground. Axel groaned, stopping in his tracks as he turned to look at me, his brow down while the other was up in annoyance, making me stare back in defiance. "Being with you is a headache you know that right?"

My mouth opened in protest, but my words were left unsaid as he held his hand up to hush me up. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he lowered his hand back to his side, opening his baggy eyes again. "But since I feel the same way we're just gonna find a place to rest alright? Got it memorized?" I shimmered a gleamed grin, wiping my face from the oils that was made from the humidity on top of my skin. "Ohh…that's great…that'd sure make my day..."

Axel nodded, his stoic expression turning into a grin. "Yeah let's just sit here for now at least…" Axel said, searching for a place to sit. He eyed a curving tree that reminded me of a hook on the right of us, walking to it as I followed. We both sat down on the hard ground, Axel leaning on the cracked bark like a reclining chair with his hands behind his head in ease. My legs were folded while my upper body was straight, attentively watching my surroundings or anything suspicious. I observed the ground for insects, hoping a bug wouldn't crawl on Axel, or me for that matter. I then heard Axel talk, interrupting my experimental observations. "Don't worry we're gonna find a better place to rest…"

I sighed, my stomach feeling bloated and heavy. 'Do I gotta pee?' I pushed that feeling aside, answering back to what he said. "But what about finding Sora? This place is just too big to search every corner and stone we find to…" His head twisted towards me, his one eye partly opened from relaxing. "You did say we should stay right?" My brows rose, remembering the feeling I had when we entered this world. "Yeah…I guess there must be something here that made me want to stay huh?"

"Heh don't ask me, I'm just following by what you said…boss," he said, turning away, closing his eyes once more. "Mmm…" I moaned, staring at his handsome white face, looking at his spikey hair that seemed to tug at my inner playful heart.

'His hair…' I smiled at the thought. I turned my body so I was facing in his direction, my legs still crossed as I cocked my head to the side, gazing at his tired features, even his lips. 'He's so cute…' Just then, my dreamy state was disrupted as I snapped myself out of it, realizing what I was doing made my face hot as I closed my eyes shut.

'Whoa stop that Deonna! I'm not a perv…and I don't like him anyway!' I shouted to myself, my head falling into my hands, my heart racing like a horse. 'Even though he is cute and cool…aw forget it!'

"Axel?" I asked, my head still in my hands. "Yeah?" he responded. I looked back up, holding my hands together with a cheesy grin. "Can I play with your hair?"

His eyes shot open, staring at me in bafflement with his brows twisted. "You crazy?" he began, his voice sounding calm to my surprise. "This hair is off limits to anyone or anything that might mess it up," he paused, his eyelids falling partly over is eyes. "What do I look like to you? A doll head?"

"Aw come on I'm not going to mess it up. I just want to play with it…" I said, smiling at him gingerly with big eyes. He huffed, his eyes squinting. "Your eyes have no effect on me…"

"Hmph!" I snorted, turning away, eyeing a brier across from me. My pelvis was hurting as well as my stomach in cramps, but I was ignoring the pain and hiding it from Axel. I knew where it was coming from, so I didn't want to bother him with my female issues, at least until I felt a sensation that seemed to drip out of me.

"Uh?"

My eyes blew up, gaping at my pants as my heart sped up, seeing a dark red stain on the crotch. "Oh crap…"

"Huh? W-What's wrong?" Axel asked. I couldn't blink, my breath being held in as I rotated my head towards him, stiff as Axel stared at me in confusion with his brows wrinkled. "Heh, what's wrong with you, you look like you've seen a ghost…" Axel tittered, as if to laugh it off. My chest hurt, ignoring him as I stood up on my feet, feeling the pressure on my legs increase as my hands started to feel clammy. I swallowed, my face itchy, giving me the urge to scratch my cheek. "Axel, I-I think I'm on…"

It was his turn to look crazy; his green eyes widened as his brow twisted out of puzzlement. He sat there like stone against a tree before he spoke. "Can you repeat that last part again?" he asked, not really sure what I meant by that. I huffed, feeling lightening strikes inside of my stomach as I gripped my belly. "Axel I'm on my thing! You know what that is? Right?"

"Uh…" he gawked at me, removing his hands from behind his head, using one to support his weight as the other he used to scratch his head. "Alright I'm lost…" He got up from the ground, brushing his cloak off of dirt. "Sorry but I can't speak the girl language," he said, crossing his arms, waiting for me to just say it. I huffed, my brows arching in annoyance, grabbing the side of his arms as I shook him like a mad woman. "Axel you should know this! You had a mother once did you! I'm sure she told you or somebody did! I'm flowing!"

His nostrils were flared; looking troubled from my maniac actions. He gripped my hands off of him like they were thorns. "Uhm…first of all stop doing that…" he said in a rather calm tone, "and second of all…flow?" I smacked my forehead. Just then, Axel's voice tuned up in shock with an understanding undertone. "Wait you don't mean…?" he said, having my hand fall from my face to see the tense features of his visage, his brows hooked in worry. 'Did he finally get the hint?'

"Yes! It's my period you pea brain!"

"Oh god…" he said in disgust, his brows pressed together, stepping up against the tree away from me like I was an alien. He held his hands in front of himself, grinning with sheepishness. "Heh, that's gross…"

"Uhg! Axel we got to find a river! Right Now!" I hollered, wishing he would act more mature during this drastic moment as I stepped up to him. He waved his hand at me franticly like he was afraid of me. "Okay okay we'll find a river! Just calm down 'kay? Your making me freak out…" he said, a rise of irritableness in his voice. My eyes widened, feeling some more drips of menstruation moisten my underwear. A grunt escaped my mouth, rushing towards my left to get a head start. "Hurry we gotta find a river!" My feet halted, thinking of the one thing that I needed for this period. My hands grabbed my head, piercing my skull with my harsh fingertips in grief. "Do I even have any Sanitary Napkins!"

"Hey! Keep those thoughts to yourself why don't you!"

"Oh shut up!"

I turned slightly to look at an offended Axel who was walking behind me. He made it up to me, his brows stitched at my harsh treatment. "Yo girl…calm down alright?" he said, his face turning gentle, trying to smooth my anxiety as he put his hand on my right shoulder. I observed his gloved hand then his gentle gaze, feeling myself smile inside, though looked at him with dead eyes. "Mmm…lets just hurry up before I explode…" I said, turning away, my head pounding from the hard eyebrows on my forehead arrowed at each other.

"Heh, we don't want that to happen now do we?"

We searched farther out from where we were sitting. What surprised us was that we discovered a glade where a stream of water flowed through; it felt too good to be true that we were near a stream that was so close. The grass was really green, bountiful in appearance than being where the trees were where there was only broken sticks and mold almost about everywhere in the dirt.

"Ohh yes finally…" I said, overlooking the small ledge, staring at the clear water that appeared untouched by any animal that lived in this jungle. The tiny pebbles at the bottom of the stream glistened from the sun above, finding myself among its streaking water like a mirror. "This is perfect…" I said, bending back on my knees, standing up to a smiling Axel who stood on the left side of me. "So you happy now?" he asked. I smiled back. "Yeah…"

I then started to shove him out of my space, surprising him as he hesitantly went along. "Now beat it and get out of here…"

"Sheesh you're so mean now…"

"Hmph, I'm not mean…" My hands fell to their sides after pushing him feet's away from the river near the green molested jungle, wanting him to go back into the forest of trees and whatnot so I can have my privacy. He turned back to look at me, a grin plastered on his face. "Don't take long you hear?"

"Axel go away!"

"I'll be out here when you need me?"

"Bug off you're doing that on purpose!"

He chuckled, escaping my sight as he rustled into the bushes of shrubbery. Ignoring the drips of flow, I strode back towards the river where my bag sat in the grass. I bent my knees on the soft grass, opening my bag to get out some new clean panties. Surprisingly, I did have some sanitary napkins, which was tucked away on the inside of a secret pocket. The wind blew as I stood up, smelling wet plant life, as I was about to take off my pants. My eyes widened as my heart throbbed. "Axel where are you!" I hollered, turning around as I gripped the underwear and napkin in my hands. His voice was loud and clear. "Here!" he said, standing up from the bushes in a shadowy form, farther away then when I saw him last. He wasn't that close to the area since I was by the river, but if he was able to hear me and I was still able to see him, he should disappear then.

"Why can see you!" I yelled back.

"So I can hear you if you need me!"

"I don't want to see or hear you Axel! If I can see you right now you might see me!"

'When I change for that manner…'

"But I like this spot!" My brows furrowed as I stomped my foot towards Axel's direction, his hair a wild flower in the shadowy grass and bushes. "Axel get out of here you pervert!"

"I'm not a pervert!" he paused, his figure moving in a walking motion. "But I'll go a little farther out alright!" With that he walked away, deeper in the jungle where monkey's sounded.

"Hmm…" I moaned, checking out the area he left, making sure he actually was gone. No figure in sight. 'Good…' I smiled to myself, turning around to take my pants off. My new pants had blood all on its crotch and in my underwear like a painting. It just sucked. At least I had extra underwear and a sanitary napkin, a woman's best friend. I put on my new panties and sanitary napkin; now I was half naked in the wild. Maybe that was what it meant getting back to nature…yeah right. I knelt down towards the stream of water, the waters rushing past like the wind. The water flickered at my skin as I dumped the stained area of my pants in the water, the blood mixing in with the water like food coloring. I squeezed the pants for the soaked water to escape to in the grass and grabbed the soap I had got from Mrs. Dean in the pocket of my bag. Smudging the bar of pink soap on the dark stain, I rubbed the cloth together for a frothy texture to consume on the area and dipped it in the water. I repeated this action three times until I was just about satisfied, which I also did my bloodied underwear. I raised my pants in the air to see the blackened wrinkled region where it seemed some one pissed in; the stain wasn't that noticeable. My lips turned into a grin, happy at the results. "Good so it worked…" I mumbled, standing up to shake it like a blanket, wondering how long it would take to dry.

My mind went to the disappearance of Axel who went somewhere into the jungle to wait. "Hmm…" My body turned towards the trees, thinking whether or not Axel was watching me or not. At the feeling of paranoia, my heart raced, turning away towards the other side of the river where more vegetation consumed. 'Axel wouldn't do that to me…would he?' That thought crossed my mind as my legs bent down to sit on the prickly grass, my legs crossed as I sat my pants on the side of me in an iron position as well as my wet underwear. "Hmmm…"

I then pointed my legs out in front of me, observing how shapely and curving they were in the stark green grass. I frowned, stretching my upper body over them in a hiding position. "I feel fat…I should put on those other pants now…"

The sound of popping balls reminiscent behind me, my chest hurting as my upper body turned around in shock. My eyes widened, examining the aura of yellow and blue monkeys, all with a heartless symbols painted on their chest; the yellow heartless head a girly appearance with a bow on their heads while the blue monkeys had a boyish and rough look. I gasped, jumping to my feet as I yelled.

"Axel!"

It didn't take long for him to come at the scene, popping out of the bushes in concern. "W-What is-" he began, his voice cracking as he stared at me in bafflement, his eyes growing like mountains while his face turned into a red pepper. My heart ached, stiff as I gawked back at his presence as my own body turned hot.

"A-Ahhh!" I screamed, grabbing my pants from the ground, trying to cover my exposed legs and underwear, staring back at him furiously.

"Ah eh-sorry sorry…" Axel said, covering his forehead from looking at me. "Why are you here!" I yelled, noticing that I almost forgot about the heartless that was prancing around towards me. "Because you called me!" Axel said, lowering his hand down to look back at me, his face turning redder at my sight. My brows furrowed, clenching my pants tighter as I grasped my wet underwear and bag off the ground to run away.

"Stop looking at me and get the heartless!" I hollered as I avoided the shots the yellow monkeys were shooting at me as I ran into the jungle. My legs jumped into the bushes, running over sticks and dirt as my ears could hear Axel trying to get the Heartless attention. "Idiots I'm right here! I'll show you what a real fight is about!" Axel yelled.

My legs soon stopped, leaning back on a small tree as I caught my breath, feeling that my lungs were empty of air. I wiped my forehead of sweat, my face hot from those small moments of sprinting and seeing Axel stare at me with ogle eyes. My face looked up above, listening to the sound of birds flap at my presence as I sank down on my knees. "Man…this is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me in my life…" My head dropped into my hands, remembering when Axel first saw me with no pants on.

"Axel saw me…this is soo bad…how am I going to face him now?" I sulked, my ears now hearing the voice Axel.

"Deonna!"

My head shot up, searching for the voice that sounded close, but still far.

"Deonna! Where are you!"

My throat felt thick, my knees bent as I inched up off the ground, cowering my bottomless physique behind the tree as I saw Axel walking in my direction, trying to over sound the noises of the animals. I gagged, responding to his worried call. "I-I'm here!"

His head turned back and forth at my voice, pushing the tall grass and bushes out of his way as he started going in a different path. "Where!"

"Here!" My hands went up, waving in an assertive motion to catch his confused eye. His far off sight saw my hands, advancing his steps in my direction now that he's found me. As he came closer, my ears burned, holding my hand up like a stop sign. "Wait I need to put on my pants!" His view was clearer now, his body halting at my command. I knelt down, taking out my old pants and slipping them on from out of my bag. I jumped back up, calling Axel to come to me as I held my wet pants and underwear in my hands. He appeared in my presence after walking a few more feet, his cheeks red as he stared at me, making me look away in profile as I held my clothes behind my back, feeling like my heart would burst out. The voiceless sounds of our voices made the mood uncomfortable as I avoided eye contact, feeling both of our embarrassed heat. He cleared his throat before speaking in a quiet voice. "So…uhm…you okay?"

I swallowed, still with my eyes diverted at the ground. "Y-yeah I'm fine…"

The sound of a monkey made me want to look up, but I resisted that urge, not wanting to show how embarrassed I was by looking at him accidentally. "Uhm…well lets…uhm sheesh…" Axel began in a hesitant manner, my eyes turning in his direction out of curiosity, but still with reluctance. He was scratching his head, looking really troubled like he was lost in thought, his cheeks still red as he gazed back at me. My eyes felt big, feeling caught in the stare as my heart baked, my breathing increasing. We both gaped at each other until we both blinked, blushing in awkwardness as we both realized how long that moment have passed. I looked away as my face heated even more, hearing Axel finally say something. "So…uhm you done with your pants and stuff?"

"Mmm yeah…" I responded.

"Alright then…let's go…uhm…find another place to rest huh?"

"Yeah…"

* * *

After our awkward chat was over, we started walking again, leaving my wet clothes out to dry on the back of my backpack like a hook. After walking in tongue-tied silence and listening to the voices of the jungle, we soon found a clearing path that was more manageable to walk through where giant trees were more at our sides then in front of us and where fewer bushes were present. It was cognizant that I kept my distance from Axel; He was walking ahead of me while I was in the back, all the way in the back so I wasn't so close to him because of that weird incident. Obviously, he knew of this distance, but didn't say anything at first. But after a few more minutes of walking on the clear road, he finally spoke up about it, stopping as he turned his body slightly towards me.

"Why are you all the way back there again?" I stopped as soon as his steps ceased. 'So I don't have to be near you…' I thought of telling him, but didn't. Of course ever since he saw me almost bottomless, I've been wary of him looking at me and being by him, which made me a bit nervous. This tugging feeling I have towards him was now starting to bug me, and now that my period is on my emotions are going to run pretty wild for a few days. "Uhm, well I'm pretty comfortable back here…"

He placed his hands on his hips, his body now standing in my direction. "Oh really?" I nodded, grinning sheepishly as I tried to swallow. He shook his head, closing his eyes, pointing his finger at me in a calling motion. "Naw…I want you to come closer so I don't have to worry about you being abducted or something…"

Before I opened my mouth he told me once more, "Come on now, I don't want to here it…"

'Wow, Axel's acting like a father or something now…freaky…'

"Ah but I don't want to…" I pouted, only stepping a few feet towards him; I was still pretty far. Though he was far away from me I could still see his eyes grow small in vex. After that he started to stroll towards me, which made me feel mortified when he finally reached me, standing at my side. "Alright lets go you…" he said, placing his hands behind his head while I just nodded, following him at his side.

The sky appeared orange as if there was a sunset somewhere while the jungle seemed to be quieter due to my immune ears. My fingers gripped my bag as we walked further, curving at turns, walking past giant rocks and looking at some primate's swing from the trees overhead, trying to find a place to rest for the night. My stomach was cramping and without any painkillers, my days out on this journey wouldn't be nice.

"So," Axel began, catching my attention as I dubiously gazed at him. "How long will you be on your thing anyway?" He looked at me, his face embellished in worry, his hands back behind his head. I surprised myself with a giggle, knowing how he would react when I told him. "For a few days…"

"Ouch, that's cold…the days certainly won't do me any good…"

"Hmph. And what's that supposed to mean?" I said turning away, just hearing the chuckles from his mouth. 'I guess Axel's not thinking about what happened earlier…I shouldn't either…'

Just when I thought of that, Axel decided to bring it up again. "Oh…and I'm sorry for coming in on you earlier…"

My heart stopped, cracking as I replied, "I-It's okay Axel…" I said, looking down.

"Is it really? You've been so quiet ever since it happened…" he paused, "look at me why don't cha?"

I looked up at him with a grin, hoping he would see that I was okay. He smiled back, his arms finally falling to his sides. I looked away with a smile, feeling my cheeks flush as I stopped walking. "Hm? What is it?" Axel asked, stopping with me, leaning forward towards my face as I backed up a little for space. I looked at the grass, having my legs sit on the ground for my weary legs to relax. "I'm tired Axel and my legs and stomach hurt…" I said in drowse, taking my bag off my back as I crawled towards a bush with red berries on it to my left, lying on my stomach with my legs spread out, my head on my bag like a pillow while the almost dry clothes were still hooked on top. "Oh…" Axel said, sitting next to me on my right.

By the way the sky looked with its blue and purplish hues, even a dog would know that the day was phasing into night, even if it was colored blind. "Uhh…this feels good…" I moaned, closing my eyes, bowling my head in my arms and not worrying if a bug would crawl on me or not.

"Heh, don't get too comfortable…"

"Mmm…it's comfortable at the moment…"

"Good then, but I'm going to find a better place then this."

I brought my head up off the bag, sitting on my knees as I looked at Axel for a question that could pass as a statement. "There sure was a lot of heartless we fought today huh?"

He nodded his head, yawning as I covered his mouth for him. He chuckled, moving my hand away from his face as I giggled along. "Yeah, that's what happens when your Keyblade wielder…" My head cocked to the side. "What you mean?"

"When you're a Wielder of the Keyblade, the heartless are drawn towards your Keyblade like a beacon and comes after you, wanting the heart of the Keyblade Wielder…"

"Oh…I didn't know that…" I said, turning away at the ground, sitting more comfortably as I overlapped my legs, my arms holding my weight by pressing the ground as I leaned back. "Mm, well you learn something new everyday…"

I looked back at him with a grin, turning my upper body towards him as I reached my hands out for his face. His dark eyes widened as I touched the under lids of his baggy eyes, moving them from side to side playfully. I giggled while he grunted, his eyes squinting at me as he grasped my wrist to stop me, saying, "You're a weird girl…"

"Hahaha!" I laughed as he got up, staring at me with a hidden grin. "What? It's not my fault I got these trash bags under my eyes…" I wiped a tear under my eye from a breezy wind, gazing back up at him as my giggling stopped into a smile. He let his grin show, rolling his eyes as he stared into the shrubs behind me. "Well let's go now…" he said, looking back at me, wanting me to comply. My brows curved, laying my chin back on my bag as I closed my stingy eyes.

"But my legs hurt…I'm drained Axel…"

He sighed, hearing the sound of his feet step closer to my ears. "You want me to carry you?"

When he said that I felt a sharp pain hit my chest, my heart beat increasing as my mind thought of his caring suggestion. I opened my eyes, staring at the grassy road ahead of me. "Heh, have you lost your mind?"

There was no way I was going to let him carry me from what happened earlier; I thought I was over that, but I guess I wasn't. "Well I lost my mind when I lost my heart…" he said, scooping down at my level, finally turning to look at him to see him bending on his knees. I stared at him for a moment, admiring his facial features and his dark dreary eyes until I snapped myself out of it, standing up on my two sore feet. He stood up with me as I shook my head. "No you don't have to…but," I paused, gripping my bag off the ground, handing it to him, "you can carry this though," I said with a smile. "Hmm, fine…"

With that, I followed him back into the green jungle, looking for a place to sleep for the evening. We found a small clearing that was big enough to fit two huge tents, deciding that we would stay there for the evening. The area was circled with two giant trees and bushes with a few medium rocks scattered in the area. Axel moved the rocks into a circle for a campfire while I just sat on the ground with my black cloak underneath like a blanket, observing the shadowy leaves above move with the winds slow pace like fingers, the empty space darker and dull. The night creatures began to sing in song, the humid temperature dosing off for my liking while the smell of the green plants contaminated my nose.

"Let there be fire!" Axel said dramatically, his arms curved up towards the air as he lit the dry firewood aflame he found. I laughed at his goofiness as he came back to me, scratching the back of his head with a grin, laughing along with me. "You thought that was funny huh?" he asked, sitting next to me on my right as the light of the fire danced across his face. "You made it funny silly," I said, giggling at him. He smirked, rolling his eyes as he lied back on the ground with his hands like a pillow behind his head, his eyes closed.

"Hmm…too bad we don't have a cover to sleep on…" I said, looking at his tired hardworking state. "Heh, I don't need a cover, and that cloak you're sitting on will do you just fine…" I smiled faintly, watching the flames of the fire crackle the wood, the smell of the smoke drifting into my nostrils. My eyes closed, sniffing the air of burnt wood as I spoke. "How long do you suppose we should stay here?"

"Hmm…I guess until you're satisfied with what we find that is making you want to stay?" My stung eyes gazed back at him, his small eyes partly open as he stared back. I swallowed, turning away from his gaze, staring at my lap. "I guess so then…"

My stomach ached as well as my legs, chipping in the growls of my stomach. "Uh…I'm hungry…" I groaned, gripping my bloated belly, leaning over the pain of cramps. "Huh, gee I'm sorry about you're oozing state right now…" Axel said. My brows pressed together, pulling my legs to my chest, propping my head on my kneecaps with my arms bowling my head. "I'm hungry to though, but I promise we'll find something to eat in the morning…hmm?" Axel said, sensing his face closer to my ear for a response. I gawked from the heat of the fire, turning slightly towards Axel with a nod and turning back at the moving flames, the heat tingling my exposed skin.

"Hmm you're definitely quiet…" Axel finally said.

I huffed a laugh, shrugging my shoulders. "I'm tired Axel and I'm hurting…"

"Man, what a curse. Good I wasn't brought out female…"

My brows twisted at his statement, turning to peer at his relaxed sitting position where his leg was up at his chest and the other was down, his arm on his bent raised leg; his drowsy face filled with amusement. My lips escaped titters, my brow rising as the other dropped. "Axel being a girl isn't so bad…"

"Ha! I guess I will never know since I ain't one!" I giggled; lying on my back as I gawked up at the leafy ceiling that fenced the sky. "Yeah, well I like you better as a boy anyway," I mumbled to myself.

'Wait, why am I talking about gender anyway?'

He looked down on me, his face soft as the light made his skin glow, grinning even though he looked just about to doze into dream land. "It's good you're a girl, because you're…" he paused, looking away towards the fire as he hesitated. "Hmm?" I asked, hearing the sound of my own thumping heart. Axel cleared his throat, looking at the ground as he replied, "You're cool to hang around with…for a girl…"

He then looked back at me with a grin, patting my head. My face felt hotter thanks to the fire, but giggled at his supposed-to-be-compliment. "Gee thanks…"

"Sure…" he said, lying down on his back, turning on his right side where I could see the back of his head. "Let's sleep now 'cause I'm pooped," he said groggily. I nodded, turning on my left where I laid on my side. "'kay, night…"

"Night…"

Listening to the popping fire relaxed my cool ears, the sounds of nocturnal insects piercing the area like an orchestra. I couldn't help but worry that a bug or an animal might surprise us in the middle of the night, or whether or not we might find food tomorrow. Being a Keyblade wielder and staying close to Axel eases my nerves at the least though, but the added anxiety was stressing me out. Now that I have gotten used to Axel's presence ever since that incident earlier, there was something that I've realized. Talking to him or being next to him made my stomach float, a feeling that has happened ever so often in the past, though, this time it was different. I liked what he said about being with me, that I was cool to hang around with, but something about his behavior made me want to counter that, like that wasn't what he wanted to say but something else that was on his mind. Did I like him that much to think about him like this? Maybe so. Is this what love feels like? Do I love him? Maybe that was the case, but that was something I realized before I dozed off to sleep, listening to the music of the wilderness and the crusted flames.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I'm sure you guys guessed the world huh? Yeah it's Deep Jungle **

**You might wonder how her curse is connected to her epiphany, and when I say curse, I mean monthly gift like a metaphor.  
**

**And it's about time Deonna admits it to herself huh? Just wonder how do Axel feels now...can Axel truly feel though...but I know all the answers. Bwahahahaha!**

**Stay tuned and review ^^**


	17. Cat's and Man

**Man I feel soo bad about this T-T**

**Sorry readers for the long delay but here's the next chap. Please don't be mad at me but as you can see it will take me a while to update like I used to so patience is what I ask ^^**

**Disclaimer: (Look in first chapter)**

**(And about the title, well I didn't know what else to call it ^^; it sounds dumb xD)**

* * *

**Cat's and Man**

_A darkness in space lingered along my cold body like the fingertips of a leaf. My feet remained firm to the ground, a clockwise earth that had my memory rock back and forth like a rocking chair. Dust particles reflected from the mild white glow below me that could have been mistaken for the outline of a pool. _

_"An awakening?" I asked myself, walking towards the edge of the large plate to see a giant white staircase that descended in a spiral towards a never-ending vanishing point. The eerie sight had my limbs want to cower and the unusual quietness had my senses on a calm coaster of wanted relief. "Hmm…should I go this way?" I asked not myself, but to the entity that failed to voice a response._

_"Deonna…"_

_My ears turned my head around due to the voice that was as sinister as the stairs I was to run down to. Uncanny this darkness was and how it appeared to make the platform lose its tranquil glow to a dull turd. My breathing picked up speed as I heard my name again in its own unwelcoming chant, my feet stepping down the giant steps in a hurry from the sound of my name, from him. My body felt heavy, but it wasn't achy nor was it irritable; the faster I ran down those ankle breaking steps, the more I realized how harder it was for me to move at all. _

_"Deonna…"_

_ My breathing was heavy, my brows arched due to the speed running that was not going to get me anywhere at all down this deathly road. Ignoring my name, I looked up, my eyes observing a pool of stars and constellations that you would see through a telescope. My reflection was above as I stared agape, my breathing slowing as my arm reached towards the sky above. My forefinger touched the painted mirror as it rippled like a crashing raindrop to a pond. __"A dream…" I spoke tenderly, smiling as I looked down at the never-ending darkness that was now a green plain below._

_"Deonna…" _

_I gulped, descending down the stairs in a haste manner as I observed the grey cloudy firmament above the dark ocean below. The crashing waves numbed my ears as I leaned over the cliff to see the horrendous waves slap each other like hands to faces. _

_"Deonna…" _

_My chest grew heavy, ignoring the urge to turn around out of anxiety, not wanting to catch a glimpse of his face that felt so near. "Why you ignore me Deonna?" _

_My eyes widened, the crashing waves disappearing in a fog while the rest of the landscape turned dark, almost like what happened to the island. _

_"Hmm-who turned out the lights?" _

_My body shook, his hurtful aura breathing along my neck like a cat, his hand sitting on my shoulder, partially. I snapped like a rubber band, jumping from his midst as I held my hand out to call my weapon, any weapon for that matter. I couldn't help but grimace at his smirking presence, standing in a menacing stillness with his hands held behind his back. A spotlight blazed above my head, a performance he wanted me to flaunt. _

_"Hmph!" My hands reached behind my back, grasping the Katanas that has ghostly appeared, holding them in front of me for a fight that was probably going to start. He chuckled, the remnants of light glossing his suited silhouette form in the now dark room. "Ha you think you can defeat me with that?" he scuffed, taking a step forward for only the shadows of his wrinkled face and clothes to reminiscent in shadows. My lips formed its own crafty smile; what this person didn't know was what I already knew about this dreaming space. "Hmph, if there's one thing I know about dreaming, I know I have control over it and what happens to the things and people in it…" But a question still lingered in my head like floating dust; was this truly a just a dream? _

_He crossed his arms, his smile still unwavering. "Ahh, smart one you are, but…" he paused, his right hand rising up for a swirling wind of sparkles to form a red rose, holding it so the thorns wouldn't pierce his fingertips. "Not even a beautiful rose could be heard in its own woe…" _

_My teeth gritted, unflattered as I observed his eyes stare at the spinning rose that spun like a merry-go-round, then at me, his concrete grey eyes cutting through me. "Do you exactly know who I am?" _

_My body felt hot, scoffing a laugh with a smirk, trying to hide the fact that I was indeed a bit timid about all of this. "Heh, a psychopath who doesn't know the hell to leave me alone!" I dashed towards his shadowed form, swinging my swords at his disappearing smog._

_ 'Eh?'_

_ I turned back around not to see him, but to feel the aura of him on my back, his hands gripping my arms like tight ropes. My eyes closed shut, kicking my unmovable legs that felt frozen, suddenly my speech now impaired. His breath slithered along my ear, wickedness deep in his voice. "You see, not even you can save yourself, so what makes you think you can save the worlds?" My swords fell to the ground like metal poles that boomed the murky world I was in. My eyes shot open, my breathing escaping my lungs where my squirms became minor, listening to what he just said. _

_'Worlds…how did he…?' _

_His unpleasant air tickled my ear as he whispered, "You can never escape me, for I am a worldly character of events…for I am…" _

I shrieked, my crusted eyes opening back to reality from an unpredictable nightmare. My heart was racing, sweating from the top to the bottom that either came from the sleep or the wet humidity in the damp jungle air. "Uhhhmm…" I moaned, closing my eyes as I prepared to stretch my aching limbs, trying to control my speeding heartbeat that started to settle. "Mmmm…" I finally sat up off my backpack that I used for a pillow in the middle of the night, holding my weight with my right arm as I elongated my left arm for relief towards the buzzing trees above.

_Axel?_

I wiped my nose, staring at a sleeping Axel that had moved from the spot right next to me; he was perpendicular to my position with his legs curled up to his chest, his hood over his head like a bonnet and his hands under his cheek like a pillow. A giggling temptation almost took over me, but surpassed the laugh as I leaned back on my backpack, holding my stomach for the morning cramps to come in. "Uhg…ow…what a horrible night…" I grimaced, trying to think of something besides the cartwheels that was being performed in my stomach. My eyes squinted even more, gazing at the blossoming trees that streamed light from the sun above to capture pigments of the soil around us like bright puzzle pieces.

"Attrox…" I whispered, gritting my teeth from saying that name, and a rupturing cramp that rumbled my belly. _Attrox…was that him? Or was it just a dream? I remembered what Kingdom Hearts said before, that I can't just brush off the dreams I have all the time now. But of course that was a dream, but is it truly important for me to worry about? _The more I thought about it, the more I began to believe that it wasn't any ordinary dream. _But that could just be my emotions talking because anxiety and worry always delve in my mind around this time, but still, his name…he said was Attrox…I should take caution since Kingdom Hearts told me to…just to be careful…_

My owl eyes blinked, rubbing my forehead from the oils as I sat back up, ignoring the pain in my pelvis as I spoke. "Axel you wake?" I asked, peering in his direction for a quiet response. He didn't move or even utter a word, just a moan that meant sleep. "Hmm…what should I do now?" I asked the air as I looked around the vacant area of vegetation and a dead camp fire, rubbing my head that roughed my hand from my unkempt hair. My eyes went wide, almost gasping as I pressed my hands against my skull. _Shoot, my hair is messed up! Owh! Axel better not wake up seeing me like this!_

With that thought I turned around on my knees, rushing in my bag to pull out a blue brush from the inside, pulling my hair band from my hair as I sat cross legged. I brushed my wholly hair back to it's originally form, even placing my scarf over it to stay down to some extent. Though I couldn't see the outcome, I grinned at my unseen results. _Hmph! Now that's better…_

I placed my hands on my hips, looking at Axel who was still in his sleeping position.

_Good he's still sleep…_

I then frowned, turning back around towards the ashy fire place, still gazing at him.

_…but when will he wake up? Should I wake hi_m?

Besides listening to the birds and Cicada's in the trees, I sure would like to hear from his mouth right about now. This large epiphany I woke myself into was flabbergasting; I liked Axel, or could it be something more than that. Besides the constant cramps, the uncomfortable terrain I slept on and the worry of insects crawling in my ear, I couldn't think of nothing else but him last night. But why was that? Was that what you called love? Did I love him? It not just his charming looks, or his annoying quirks and gestures that wrangles me inside, but, it's the way he is that has been catching me off guard ever since I've met him, even his annoying ways. _It could be puppy love though…but…_ I heaved a heavy sigh, closing my eyes that stung due to fatigue, dropping my head towards my crossed lap. _Ahh…who am I kidding…I guess I do…but I sure wish I didn't…the feeling of love is such a distraction and all you do is worry worry worry…_

I looked back up with a frown, though, grinning gently at his sleeping form, wondering when I should wake him up. _Hmmm, maybe a few minutes…_ I covered my mouth for a yawn, standing on my feet in a crouch position as I gawked at the black soot that was once wood. "Hmm…no more wood…duh Deonna. I'm so slow…man how will I function with no painkillers?"

"Hey what you doin' now?" a lying groggy voice said.

"Huh?" I asked as my heart felt weighed, turning my head in the direction of the husky voice. "Hmm?" Axel asked, his smile brighter than the shadows of his eyes that was partly covered from his hood. I almost gagged, suddenly not sure what to say as I felt my body heat up with the jungle. "Uhh…n-nothing…" I said, hiding the feeling of embarrassment with a small smile. I licked my lips, wishing that this loving feeling would go away. "You up now?"

He lifted his upper body up before replying, "Uh, well, I was already awake…" he said, moving his legs pass me in a stretch, yawning as he took his hood off while scratching his hair like a sleepy baby with baggy eyes. "Eh? Already up?" I asked baffled, narrowing my eyes at him as I turned in his direction. "I asked were you up earlier though?"

"Yeah I know I just wanted to see what you would do in the time being…" he said, finishing with a grin as he stretched his arms outward like arrows. I groaned, rubbing my cheek as I ignored his gaze by looking towards the ground.

"Whew…so how was your earthy beauty rest?" Axel asked.

My brows arched as I huffed, feeling my forehead bud sweat as I looked back up with a dead look, speaking in sullenness. "Just horribly Axel…" I paused, wiping my forehead as I leaned towards him on my knees, watching his brows rise curiously. "The dirt bed, the sleep, everything sucked, even the smell of the grimed soil bothered me!" But then again, who would even find sleeping on dirt lavishing? Before he could say anything I cut in. "Now my muscles hurt! And I'm still tired while my period wants to flow like a river! Y'know we should've just stayed up all night if I wasn't goin' to get any sleep anyway!"

"Deonna calm down!" Axel shouted, trying to shut me up with his body arching back with his left arm in front of himself, blocking my distance from him. "Just 'cause you're 'on' doesn't mean you have to go all buffoon on me! My night was not all rainbows and chocolates either!"

I jumped to my feet from my own excitement, whimpering as I dropped back to the ground, gripping my shoes as my eyes dilated. "Ow!" I cried, holding my feet, taking off my shoes. "Great what's wrong now?" Axel asked in petulance, scooting towards me as he sat on my right. I moaned, removing my shoes from my aching feet, rubbing them for aid. "My feet…they hurt like heck."

"Gee, you really are hurting all over…"

"Mmmm…" I pouted. _Great! What does Axel think of me now? He surly thinks I'm crazy for yelling at him for no reason at all! Curse these feelings! This is exactly the reason I hate for liking guys!_ As I pressed my fingers on my feet once more I heard Axel chuckle, making my head turn in his direction. "What's so funny?" _Is it my feet? Do they smell? Please don't let that be…_

He wiped his face, looking back at me with a grin, still muffling slight chuckles. "Heh heh, it does suck to be a girl…"

My brows went crazy as I hit Axel's arm to move away from me. "Shut up you!"

"Hah ha ha ha!" Axel was laughing hysterically by now, lying on the ground on his side with his arms over his stomach like he was dying from laughter. "Ah ha…it sucks to be you!"

"Axel…!" I pouted, embarrassed of why he was laughing; it was because of me and my sore state. _He thinks it's funny to see me like this?_ My body was now heated like a stove with the emotions of anger, sadness, pain and embarrassment, all stirring in a pot that was about to drip out. I gawked at him, almost on the verge of tears, but dared myself not to let them spill. "Fine! Just laugh! I hope you laugh so much that you explode like a red-topped volcano!" I hopped back up on my feet that twinged from the hard ground, grabbing my dirty cloak and back bag, marching off like a steamed train towards a random tree, making my own path through the jungle. _I take that back! Why would I love that idiot!_ _Probably 'like' but not love!_ _I thought he didn't like pushing the wrong buttons anyway! _

I wiped my eyes, sniffling as I heard Axel's voice behind me who had only a mild laugh in his speech. "W-Wait! Wait Deonna I'm sorry! Don't run off like that!" I stopped, looking down with my eyes closed, trying to rub the puffiness out of them. "You were the cause and I was the effect…" I mumbled as he ran in front of me. I didn't look up as he spoke. "Deonna you need to seriously chill…man it sucks that you're so sensitive right now…"

"Hmph, and I didn't think you noticed…" I said, looking back up only to roll my eyes at him. "Huh, you say that and you'll forget who does give a care…" he said, his right hand emerging from his side towards my face with the back of my shoes hanging from his fingertips. My eyes grew at the sight, my mind suddenly going blank. "Uhh…" I peered down at the earth, staring at my bare feet that were covered with dirt and grass that felt rather damp; no else wondering what was in this soil. "Ugh…I can't believe this…"

_My morning just sucks!_

I took them from his hands and put them on, but not before I could rub the bottom of my feet of muck and grime. "And don't make this day any worse than it already is with your emotional raids…"

"Yeah whatever you wish my master…" I said, wiping my hands together for the dirt to roll off my hands. Axel's arms were folded while his brow risen at me, taken back from my sarcasm. "Eh?"

I sighed, turning on my side to lean on a tree on my left, shaking my head in shame. "Sorry…I know I suck…" It was his turn to sigh, resting his hand on my right shoulder as he spoke calmly. "No worries…just take it easy today… My shoulders rose and fell, folding my arms. _How am I goin to do that? I have a mission to accomplish_.

Axel spoke again, sounding shamefaced. "And I know I acted dumb so sorry about that…just tryin' to lighten the atmosphere?"

_Hm? Lighten the atmosphere?_ I looked behind my shoulder, shrugging apathetically as I turned away, starting to walk back towards the resting area. "Yeah, sure…a big failure on your part."

I heard him sigh again, letting out minor coughs behind me. "Yeah …even though you sorta went ape on me…" I smirked just then, a red and black bird with giant red wings seeming to fly right out of a painting through the branches of a tree. "Be careful or a real ape might just attack you."

"Oh so that's what you think about me…" he said with a mild chuckle.

Even I had to admit I wasn't that upset with Axel anymore, after all, it was a stupid thing to get mad about anyway, even though Axel was pretty insensitive about my feelings. _Hmmm, yeah Axel sucks to..._

We stepped out of the bushes, greeted by crawling shadows that swept back and forth in the ground where we slept. "Great shadows…" Axel growled, rushing in front of me for his weapons to appear in his hands. My chest ached momentarily, dropping my bag and cloak to the ground, forming my battle stance to end the evil vermin that formed twitching bodies on their little feet. We were done at least under two minutes, which was a big relief to my body; the bad thing was that I realized I was a bit musty from all the movement and the heat.

I sniffed my armpit that moistened my underarm sleeve that ranked, grimacing at the smell. My brows furrowed at my impeding thoughts. "Great…I got to wash up before Axel says something…wait-where am I going to do it anyway? I feel like a savage living in the wilderness now."

"Hey, remember I said we'll look for food in the morning? We don't have all day you know!"

"Uhh yeah…" I answered, turning around to lean on the side of the giant barked tree that was blocking my view from Axel. His hand was waving at me to come to him, his brows raised in curiosity. "Come on already…and what are you doing behind there?"

I grinned sheepishly, clutching my bag strap as I advanced towards his position by the stoned circle of ashes. "Uh nothing just checking something out…"

His mouth was in a thin line, his small eyebrow up with the other one down, gazing at me in thought. "Uh…what?" I asked, having the urge to scratch my neck of uncomforting heat. He crossed his arms, his brows finally rising like mountains while his mouth opened in realization. "Ohhhh that…" His face was a bit pink, turning around with his fist to his chin. "Hmph and what's that supposed to mean?" I asked feeling infringed, crossing my arms as I speed walked behind Axel, carrying on to his left side as we entered the path towards the road. He shook his head as if it didn't matter. I groaned. "Geez you're such a pervert…" _Wait, does this means I like a pervert? My choice of men stinks_. "Hahahaha! You're funny y'know that?"

"So I've been told…but it's not funny what could be prancing around in your mind like a pony though…" I said in distaste, staring at his keen profile as I stumbled over an ingrown rock. He peered back at me, his eyes squinted with a grin. "You have a creative mind, not even knowing what crossed my thoughts just now right?" I growled, crossing my arms as I looked away, walking faster ahead of him for the way out.

_He does have a point, all I can do is wonder…_

* * *

The sun was beckoning, the humidity in the air thicker in the camouflages of green vegetation than it was in the sun itself. I wiped my forehead while surging my shirt at the same time in order to cool myself down. My tongue was dry of moisture, making me feel like drinking anything that seemed sanitary in this animal jungle. "Man its hot…" I said in grief, wiping my oily face as I heard my own stomach grumble. "Yeah it feels great doesn't it? Mmm yeah that's the stuff…"Axel said in bliss as he stretched out his arms outward, walking to my left on the road towards a more sunny area. My eyes squinted at him, huffing a laugh at his silliness. "Heh Axel I'm serious," I said as I fanned myself, walking behind him as he stopped to peer back at me, placing my other hand on my hip. "It's definitely hot here can we-"

Axel interrupted me, his body turned fully in my direction, gesturing his hands in the air as he spoke unrealistically. "Yeah? Want me to go lower the tempt of the sun? If I could, I would, for your sake if that's the only way for my ears to stop bleeding from your complaining. You'll survive so suck it up and enjoy the day."

I just looked at him in idiocy, my mouth partly opened in shock as I stuck my tongue out at him, crossing my arms in vex as I caught a glimpse of a smile on his face before turning away. _How come he always smiles when he annoys me?_ "Stop smiling...it's not cute…" I said in gloom, even though that was only partially false. I felt him closer to me, his hand suddenly on my head saying, "Heh, you are so weak right now that it's laughable."

"And you're the most sympathetic and majestic being I've ever met …" I said in a squeaky voice, shaking his hand off my head as I spun around towards the other direction. "And where do you think you're going miss attitude?" I sighed, feeling a cramp rupturing, my brows hardened. "To the stream, river place from yesterday…"

"Oh alright…what for?" Axel asked, hearing his steps crunch the dirt behind me. My head cocked to the side, shrugging shyly without looking back as my face began to relax from the tension. "Mmm, y'know, to wash up some and stuff?" Axel then chuckled, finding his walking form at my left side. "You mean bathe in the river like a savage?" My eyes stared ahead, refusing to look at Axel since my feelings about him felt awkward when he said the word _bathe_. "Hmph, sounds like something you would do…" He tittered, finding my small joke funny. "You're humor is astounding."

"And even if I did, I wouldn't be letting you come with me."

"Of course you wouldn't."

After what felt like ten minutes, we made it to the river we found yesterday; the bad thing was two-horned warthogs already overtook the river. Seeing the sight increased my stress, crouching in the bushes with Axel as we looked onward, wondering what we should do. Axel spoke first with an idea of his own saying, "Y'know what I would do? I'll just scare'em off and eat'em for breakfast," he said, staring from the animals to me with a goofy grin. I just gave him a black look, finding myself gazing at him to long. "What? I heard they taste like chicken…" Axel didn't seem bothered by my stare, looking away as he stood up a little like he was sniffing the area.

"Hmm…are you trying to be funny?"

He looked at me, crouching back next to me with his shoulder brushing mine. "Did it work?"

"Ehhh I laughed inside."

He smiled, turning away from me. "Heh, time to start the show…"

_Show?_

With that, Axel ran forward as he pushed through the thicket like a tiger, shouting with flames circling his body in spirals like a madman coming out of a nightmare. My eyes widened as the whole area of animals went into a frenzy; even the birds in the trees ruffled the leaves to get away from the fire tornado, falling on me like soft kisses. "Get the hell out of my territory before I fry yea for breakfast ya stinkin animals!" The warthogs squirmed, wailing as they scurried into the brush while Axel chased them away. I finally stood up, stepping out of the bushes into the clear riverside, watching Axel come from the left where he ran the animals away. My lips turned into a smile, shaking my head as Axel huffed for breath. "Heh you happy now?" he asked, grinning that cute grin of his as he crossed his arms. "Axel you're crazy…" I said in a half laugh, suddenly a foul smell floating into my nose.

"Now that's something I never said I wasn't," he said as he pointed his finger at me. My face scrunched up, holding my nose from the stench that began to open my smelling senses as I looked around. "Do you smell that? Something stinks." I looked back at Axel whom had his nose covered as well, his eyebrows stitched together as a reaction. "Yeah it's starting to get to me to." It had a mixture of wet pee and dung, stinging my nose like a skunk. "Aw man let's go to the other side of the river before I vomit!" Axel suggested, heading towards the stream of water. I nodded, pinching my nose as I looked to the ground for waste.

I peered ahead of Axel who was about to take another step in the grass, but shouted when I saw a glob of brown under his foot.

"Axel watch out!"

"Whoa!" Axel shouted, jumping over his step as his body partially fell over the grassy ledge; his upper body was out of sight where his butt was only in view. "Ah…uh…ah… ahhahaha!" I laughed as I held my stomach with my arms, gagging from the smell that inhaled into my nose from my laughing. _Man it stinks, but this soo funny! Axel's going to be totally red!_ I held my nose once again, running up to Axel in gags of laughter while he regained his fallen posture. "A-Axel? You okay?" I asked in part laughs. He sat back on his knees, wiping his wet face with his dirtied gloves, the front of his hair wet that dripped water. "Ngng…" he muffled, wiping his nose as he spit into the grass.

"Yuck!"

He then looked at me with a cute vexation, his face in hues of pink and red. "Oh, so you think this is funny huh?"

"Uhm," I began as I held my hands behind my back, gazing away towards the sky, "well…heh haha yeah haha!"

He groaned, shaking his hair that sprinkled water droplets on my exposed skin, cowering from the cool sensation "Hey watch it!"

He smoothed his hair back like the water was a gel. "Heh whatever…better the river than the poop…"

"Hahaha! Yeah…that was close to."

"Alright you had you're laugh. Let's get away from this stinking side."

We both jumped over the wide river, the smell of wet grass overcoming the stench that was on the other side of the river where we came from. I knelt down, stretching my hand towards the cool rushing water that licked my fingers clean. "Ahh…finally…" I looked over my shoulder at Axel who was standing, his arms crossed, appearing as if he was observing the riverbed along with me. "Axel you think this water is clean enough to splash water onto my face, probably not huh?" He stepped up to my right side, moaning in thought as he leaned over the edge. "Well sure, if you like the smell of fish…" He put his hands on his hips, shrugging at me. I sighed, turning back towards the water, cautiously dumping both my hands in the water like a bowel. "You're a water hater. Why am I asking you anyway?"

Before I brought my hands up to my face, Axel grabbed my hands, forcing them back down into the water.

"Wha- Axel what are you-?"

"This will be more cleaner…"

The spot my hands were in were warmer as the flowing water progressed through it like an invisible pot. My eyes widened at the change of temperature, finding myself awestruck. "Uh, Axel…how'd you do that?" I asked, looking at him to find him staring back at me with a smirk. His stark green eyes gazed towards the water where I was able to see his reddened ear, his glove slippery wet on my hand. "Well you should know I always have a trick or two up my sleeve…" He let my hands go; leaning back on his butt with his arms supporting his weight at his sides, his legs sprawled out in content. I looked back at him, pursing my lips together in a smirk as I rolled my eyes at him, turning back towards the river "Yeah sure…"

I changed my position as I took my scarf off, resting my weight on my knees as I leaned forward to splash my face with warm water more easily than before, using the small tube of cleanser I had tucked away in my bag. When I was done, I looked back at Axel to see what he was doing. To my surprise, his face was turned away, but his neck looked reddish-pink. My face twisted in uncertainty, shaking my head as if to air dry my dripping face.

"Axel you alright?"

"Uh…yeah w-why wouldn't I be?" He didn't even look at me, which meant something was probably up. My eyes squinted in suspicion, crawling closer to his stiff sitting position. "Axel really what's-wait is your face red?" He then looked at me, his face red as a chili pepper. My eyes widened at his brightened face, inching back to sit on my butt. My mouth was left agape, observing Axel's timid expression of uncomforting crankiness. "Axel what's wrong with you're face?"

"You happened…" he said lowly, looking from me to the grass between his legs, both his arms on his knees. My face contorted even more. "What?"

"Your butt happened!"

"Uh…my…butt?"

"Yes…" He then looked up, his eyes cold as ice trying to mingle with his red face. "Your butt was sitting in the air like a red target!" My heart throbbed like a bouncing ball, sitting back on my knees as I arched back with his hands on my hip in a stretch, catching a glimpse of my butt. "Oh?"

"Yeah. You seriously had no idea how much I wanted to just kick you into that river…" I gulped a knot. _Man this is bad, especially for me…that's why he's blushing…because he was staring at my bu…_?

My face felt hot, finding it rather hard to swallow my own spit. Even though this was an awkward situation, this could be quite entertaining given the right thought. I brought my hand up, fanning myself as I peered back at Axel, partially in abashment while Axel stared back, his body solid in uneasiness. "Seriously your b …" he caught himself, quickly turning away with narrowed eyes. "Ah never mind…"

"Hmph what?" I asked evoked, balancing myself on my knees with my hands fisted to my hips. He shook his head, avoiding eye contact. "Nothing-it's nothing important."

"Hmph, fine then…" I said with a smirk. I crawled closer to him, standing four-legged, turning around where my butt was almost in his face. As I expected, Axel yelped in surprise. "Ah what are you doing!" My head twisted over my left shoulder, finding Axel almost in a daze with his body inches away from me in fright, his face turning bright red again. I just giggled, crawling towards him once more. "What? I thought perverts liked this kinda thing…" I said, teasing Axel.

_How much redder could he get?_

He groaned, his teeth bare and naked. "I'm not a pervert!"

"Then why were you lookin at my butt? "I couldn't help it! It was just there like a frame! The only way to get rid of it was to kick you in the river!"

"Hmph…good thing you didn't…" I said as I crossed my arms, sitting back down on my knees. He sighed, shaking his head with his eyes closed. "Whatever…big legs…" he said, opening his eyes with a devilish look. My mouth dropped open, snorting as I looked away, remembering what happened yesterday. "My legs aren't that big you…you skinny…"

My face felt hot again, which meant it was Axel's turn to joke. "Ha! That's getting old y'know."

"Ugh whatever," I said, standing up, walking over to my backpack for more toiletries that was sitting behind me. "Just don't look at me right now."

"Whatever miss attitude…"

* * *

"Ahh thanks again for letting me use it," Axel said, peering behind himself at me, his hands threaded behind his head. "Next time we go to a world with Sea-salt ice cream, it's on me. Got it memorized?" My eyes felt heavy, weariness planted inside and out of my aching body as I just looked at him. "Yeah sure…" I looked away at the rooted ground, my face still flushed from what happened at the river.

Earlier after I cleaned my face, I went to change my pad in private. The last thing I did was brush my teeth, since the warm-hot water was distilled by Axel. But what surprised me was a shocker to me; Axel wanted to use my toothbrush to brush his teeth. I was skeptical about it, until Axel said he would just clean it after words with the water. I let him use it since I felt like being nice, but it was mostly due to a certain look he gave me that he probably didn't even know he had. Ever since then up until now, I was still blushing about it. "You should get your own y'know."

"If I had one I wouldn't be asking to use yours."

"Don't think I'm going to be letting you use it everyday because I let you use it today…"

"I figured you'd say that…" He looked back at me again, curiousness in his features. "How you feel with your…monthly thing?" I sighed, closing my eyes that stung as I opened them up again, gazing back at Axel.

"The first day is always the worst…"

"Hmmm, that answers my question, why do I even bother to ask," Axel said, looking back ahead, his hands still behind his head. After walking farther in the dense jungle, we ran into monkey heartless, which were accompanied by black purebloods that fidgeted like flies, the same one's we fought earlier. We fought them easy under a few minutes, even though my body was achy and less agile than before, leaving Axel to comment on my physique afterwards.

"Gee somebody was sluggish in the last fight. It felt like I was the only one working…" Axel said. He was walking next to me now, his near presence giving me a nervous streak. "Here have some Elixir," Axel offered, his hand dangling a bottle of Elixir for me to take. Slightly annoyed, I took it from his hand to open it. "Gosh you shouldn't have…"

I took a long swig, listening to Axel's complaint. "Miss attitude, don't get sarcastic on me after that. A '_thanks_' would be nice?"

The Elixir disappeared from my hand, peering at Axel on my left side with a small grin as I felt my body shift from pain to only minor comfort. "Thanks Mr. Sensitive…" I snickered. His expression turned into bafflement, chuckling as he shook his head, using my shoulder as an arm rest for his heavy arm. "That's a lot of talk for someone whose hormonal levels are slightly off right now…" My brows furrowed, turning away at a purple berried bush ahead of me. "Hmph whatever."

"Ha! See? Getting mad at everything I say or do…" He then pushed my head like a boggle head, sending me into a frenzy. "Hey! Are you crazy!" I exclaimed, slapping his arm nonstop, making him cower.

"'Kay sorry my bad sheesh!"

I then stopped hitting him, staring at Axel in vex while he gazed at me in unease, rubbing his arm. "Guess I have to remind myself not to mess with you when you're on that womanly ride…"

"Yeah beware...or better yet how about not bother me at all?"

My ears heard a terrific shout of a monkey that seemed to have been all around, rumbling the forest that made the birds screech above. "Ah what in the world is that?" Axel asked, halting his steps in question as he looked around, regaining focus of his surroundings. "It's a monkey Axel…" I said casually, cocking my head at him. He narrowed his eyes at me, his face inching towards mine. "You didn't think I knew that smart aleck? Stop giving me answers I already know."

"Stop asking dumb questions that you already know the answers to."

Before he retorted, the monkey yelped again, making my head shot up to the trees. My eyes squinted, wondering why the monkey sound sounded drastic like it was dying. Then the roar of a predator rang my ears like a drum, my senses on the verge of fright. "Whoa what is that!" I yelped in surprise, jumping back into Axel's chest who held the side of my arms tightly behind me. My face became hot because of our position, but ignored it for my sake of not feeling awkward. He seemed calm due to the sudden animal sounds, and his body felt very warm. "Hmmm, don't know…but let's go check it out…" I peered up at him, my brows wavered.

"Huh?"

We followed the animalistic hums, cautiously stepping through the bushes as we found our mark. We knelt down, hiding ourselves in the bushy thicket from the gorilla and leopard fight that was before our eyes in the clearing, a giant tree to the right side that hung ropes of vines like an escape route for either party. My eyes were bulged, gazing among the mighty hefty sliver back gorilla that was rampaging against three brawny leopards, who gracefully swung their paws, trying to claw the giant monkey like a cat would do a bird. I gasped, admiring the Leopards giant canines that previewed a chomping death to its victims. "Whoa, what an event of a lifetime…" Axel said with a smile in his voice, but at the same time with a wincey bit concern. I looked to my left at Axel, who didn't seem to notice I was staring at him with worry. "Hmmm, so you're saying…you…like that?"

He looked at me, shaking his head in opposition. "No I'm not saying that…it's just interesting to witness something like this, y'know?" He then smiled, peering back to the battle of animals. "Wanna bet? I say Leopard slug Gorilla…"

"Yeah how about…no…" I said, rolling my eyes at him, witnessing a Leopard snipe its teeth into the gorilla's leg; I grimaced, the leopards physical appearance intimidating me, having my heart race to a burn. As the gorilla roared in pain, my heart brunt like a burning flower, the leaping leopards pouncing on the gorilla like a mouse while the others netted the ape to the ground with their wide paws. _Why…does it hurt now? No…it couldn't be…could it?_

Axel spoke up with uncertainty, not realizing that I was in a mind of daze. "Uh, if you wanna go we can now…since things are getting more gory a-" I interrupted in a shout, pointing my finger at the leopards that took over the gorilla. "No wait! Look!" The leopards mouths became inflamed with a dark vapor that poured out like vomit, gorging the gorilla in its dark mist that screamed. I gasped, standing up in excitement with my mouth left agape. "Wait a sec! They must be Heartless!" Axel inquired, standing up with me in haste, making the bushes scratch against each other in rustles.

The temperature seemed to rise as one of the leopards gazed in our direction, licking its black lips as it stared at us in savage hunger. "Oh crap…" I whimpered, a gulp following down my dry throat. Axel nudged me with his elbow, not taking my eyes off of the Leopards that now knew of our presence that began to stalk us with their slit eyes. "Deonna don't be intimidated ye hear? If you can beat Cerberus than you will certainly beat these guys."

My sweaty fingers slid as I tightened them into fists, a small grin quietly appearing on my face. "Uh yeah-you're right…um yeah let's take'em out…" I said, trying to sound confident but still carked by how they pounced on the gorilla. "That's the spirit," Axel wallowed, stepping out of the bushes like a snake, agitating the giant leopards that roared at him. My forehead sweated balls, calling my weapons in sprinkling sparks that cooled my sweaty hands. Axel seduced the leopards, charging them up in contempt who forgot all about the gorilla that limped away in heavy huffs towards a more shelter area of botany.

"C'mere kitty kitty! Leave the monkey alone and I'll make it worth your while!"

Flames appeared in Axel's hands, his erected sharp spikes ready for battle as they spun to a stop. The three leopards formed a line, growling snarls that shaped in grimaces in our path of vision. The leopard on the left roared at Axel, while the other two gazed at me, the steps nonstop in a predator motion. I wiped my forehead, stepping out of the bushes, wondering, waiting for the Leopards to make the fist move on us. The big Leopard snarled once more at Axel, just close enough to pounce on him for lunch, which he did, sending a chain reaction to the other leopards to commence at me.

"Ha!" Axel yelled in excitement, jumping back to boomerang his weapon at the Leopard in mid-air, while I gripped my Keyblade, watching the first Leopard jump into my comfort zone, its claws jutted out instinctively as it roared viscously, its fangs begging for a bite. My brows hardened, avoiding the attack by running towards the leaping leopard, jumping as I swung my Keyblade at its muscular body like a baseball bat. The leopard flew towards the ground in a thud, hissing as it tried to get back up on all fours while the other leopard started a run, leaping towards me. I held my breath, shot my blade at the Leopard's face in an uppercut as it flipped over behind me, crashing on top of the prickly bushes in a heavy groan.

"Huff huff huff…" I panted, turning back around at the Leopard that attacked me earlier that was circling me in an arch shape back and forth, growling at me as if to loosen my grip, its teeth sharpened as a dagger. I grabbed my blade with both hands, watching the leopard charge at me once again to try and dip its claws into my skin. I swung at it, its paw deflecting off my weapon like a bullet as it roared in disdain. "Haa!" I slammed my blade into its teeth baring face, having its body fall to the ground like a bag of potatoes, its body rising like erupted mountains for air and the stress of its defeat. I panted like a dog, my stomach releasing more cramps as I grunted in pain, holding my stomach with my left hand as my body sloped forward for relief.

"Ugh…" My teeth gritted as my eyes sealed shut from the pain.

_Axel…_

The leopard roared like a lion, the leopard who was still fighting Axel from earlier.

"What is that all you got!" I could hear Axel near by, shouting like it was a joy ride he was on, and what a ride it was.

Before I could open my eyes to see who was winning between the two, my inner sense woke me up from my dilemma, my eyes popping open as I felt a wild darkness stir my surroundings. _Wha? _I glanced over my shoulder, witnessing a flying leopard about to swoop on top of me as it roared. "Ahh!" I shouted, its paws nailing me to the ground like giant hammers, my chin hitting the ground like a shoe. My breathing sped up, huffing dirt out of my face as my teeth became bare. _Oh god what now!_ The weight was unbearable as its giant paws overlapped my shoulders blades that seemed to crush my muscles, ranging its teeth into my ponytail like a hook that pulled my head up like a hanger, closing my eyes shut as I yelped. "Ahhh!" I tightened my right hand, not realizing that my Keyblade was out of my hand. _No wait my blade! _

"Agh!" The leopard let go of my hair, only to press its big paw on my head, a dark mist fogging my vision that felt cold and dense. I gasped, struggling to get from under the giant cat. "Ah no!" I shouted, pulling on the dirt like a rope to escape the smog and the leopard's presence. "Axel!" I shouted, not sure if he heard me or not as I continued to pry myself from under the leopard, who only pressed its body on mine like I was a rug. An essence came into my mind, a familiar spirit that spoke in the position of a loving parent that I've grown to know.

_'Inner strength…use it…'_

"Kingdom Hearts…" I moaned, my eyes closing, my brows arching as I remembered what I was to do for the worlds. _No, I can't give up now…I can't let him win! Not the darkness!_

"Ugh!" I yelled, feeling a tingling sensation over take my body like an explosion, an energetic wave coming from my limbs that circled all around in the colors of electric blue hues. The leopard roared, flying off my back as I jumped up on my feet, calling my weapon to my hand once again as I breathed deeply, suddenly my senses heightened like a wolf as I watched the growling leopard on my left limp towards the giant tree as a retreat, but only fell on its side as if out of energy, or better yet dead. I wheezed, sloping over my blade that I leaned on for support as I felt for my sweaty forehead with my hand.

_W-what just happened…just now?_

A headache brewing, my numbed ears focused on a voice that I haven't heard up until now during this rustle.

"Deonna!"

I sniffled, wiping my face that felt stained with dirt, turning slightly to my left without saying anything as if to be mute. My eyes were distracted though, observing a bubbly glob of dark tar that was eight feet away from me where the first leopard I defeated laid; was this the outcome of its conquer?

"Deonna! Are you okay!"

I swallowed, bowing my head as I reached for my forehead again, feeling the headache spread through my skull like roots. A leopard roared, but that wasn't what had me jerk just now. It was a hand that grasped my arm, tugging me in his direction for a response. I faced him, staring back at his anxious green eyes like I was a dead doll, quietly observing the smug of dirt on his cheeks and face. "Deonna snap out of it! Are you alright!" It was Axel. Of course it was Axel; who else would show me concern after annoying me all day and almost being eaten by a leopard?

Instead of replying to his worried call, I watched the last scratched up leopard fling itself into the brush, its little army of three defeated. "Uhh…" was all I could say, for I was still in my mental daze of strain. I didn't realize Axel was looking along with me, swearing at the leopard before focusing his attention back on me. He grasped my other arm, shaking me gently as if to get a reaction from me. "Deonna are your hurt?"

"Uhm…" I looked down, my back muscles aching along with my pounding head. _Do I really have to answer?_

"And that blast- how did you do that?"

_Blast…what blast?_ My eyes widened faintly, remembering how that leopard flew off of me earlier before overtaking me into darkness. _Oh right…that power…that blast…_

"The blast…" I finally said, looking back up at him, finding his worried face warm me inside. "It…felt awesome…but…" My face drifted back towards the ground.

"What?"

The corners of my mouth arched up, shaking my head as I chuckled lightly without adding stress to my headache. "It drained a lot of my energy…and I feel weak right now," I said in a strained voice, looking back up at him for a facial reaction. He closed his eyes, sighing in a deep breath of tiredness. "Look, my hands were full with that other heartless," Axel began, finally opening his eyes. "I was even surprised at how fast you got rid of that other heartless so quickly." _Hmph and he said it would be easy…but I guess we were both unprepared with the dealings of that kind of heartless…_ "You know I called you to help me-"

_Wait._

I almost gasped; reaching my hair where my ponytail was with my hot hands while Axel finally let me go. _Oh no my hair! How mush damage is there? I seriously got to get my hair done after this._

"Oh great now my hair's messed up…" I whimpered, feeling my arms cramp within the sudden movements I made for the attention of my hair, turning slightly to my side. I noticed Axel fold his arms, grunting irritably as if to be annoyed. "So your hairdo is more important than your overall wellbeing right now?"

"Uh…"

_Well, my hair is part of my being…since it was part of the mauling of a leopard… _But I didn't feel like telling him that. I turned partway in his direction, my hands still touching the wretched ponytail as I sheepishly grinned back. Before I could say anything, Axel rolled his eyes, dangled a yellow bottle of elixir in my face while his eyes went in another direction, his brows still stitched. "Just shut up and drink this…and tell me more about that blast…"

"Fine then Mr. Cheeky," I snorted, taking the elixir from his hand and gulping a long swig for the beneficial effects to abolish my negative energy. The headache, cramps and backaches seemed to diminish; only a minimum of pain lingered on my nerves, the elixir clouding my grief. My eyes closed, licking my lips from the sweet taste as I focused back on Axel who was still observing another part of the area, the elixir vanishing from my hand. "And don't tell me to shut up."

"I'll tell you whatever I feel like telling you," Axel said, his expression changing from dullness as he turned back to me, a smirk now on his face that seemed he didn't want to show. I placed my hands on my hips as my legs shifted, one brow up and the other lowered. "Axel don't make me feel more stressed than I already am," I said, my head starting to pound again. "And if I could I would puke on you." And that is no joke; if my head kept hurting the way it did earlier I could literally puke.

For a second his grinning face became stiff, and then he let out a sigh, rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms, gazing away. "Okay sorry sheesh." He then scratched his head, his expression turning into an irritated pout like he was at a lost of words. "How come it's always me saying 'sorry'?" he mumbled, looking back towards me as he petted my head with his hand, a mild reluctance in his effort. I raised my finger about to respond to the obvious answer before he interrupted me, stopping the petting motion. "Don't answer that…"

"Uh, eh kay…"

"Ugh…women…"

"Huh…Axel…" I groaned, hiding a smile as his hand fell off my head, gazing at his still irked expression. "I promised we'd find some food in the morning so I'ma stick to that promise…"

He totally looked pooped and irritated, though his body language didn't say that as he began to walk away towards the place we came from. He stepped through the bushes and grabbed my hidden bag, walking back over to me for me to take. My brows curved, hesitantly lifting my hand for him to keep. "Uh, can you hold it for me? My back still uh, sorta hurt…"

His brows grew closer together as he groaned, recoiling his arm back. "What am I you're servant?" I held my hands behind my back, looking at the sparse canopy above as I thought within a second. _Yeah totally…_ "Uhm…"

"Don't answer that."

I giggled, rubbing my nape as I felt my face become warmer than it already was, watching Axel put the bag on his back in grumbles. I then found Axel staring at me with keen eyes, his expression still stoic and brazen like a statue; he was starting to freak me out, especially with his upset glares which made my body heat up. _What is wrong with him?_ "Uh Axel what's wrong with you? What is it?"

"Hmmm…your face… it's dirty…"

My speeding heartbeat began to settle, squinting my eyes as I took a step closer to him to observe his dirtied face while he stepped back, his eyes widening. I grinned. "Yeah yours is to…"

"Oh is that it?" he said, regaining his posture while he cleared his throat, wiping both his cheeks with his thumb. I did the same thing while he continued on. "So, tell me already about that power you showed out earlier."

"Hmm oh right that…uhm…" I mused, tapping my finger on my upper lip, shifting my weight onto my right leg. "That power…it was like…being on air…" I said nostalgically, closing my eyes in memory. "Hmm, nice…" Axel said smoothly.

I nodded. "Mmm…yeah…but I'm not sure where it came from, but that voice I hear all the time…" I said looking back at him, noticing how his eyes were focused intensely on me in interest, sending my temperature to rise steadily once again. "T-That voice…it told me to use inner strength…and I guess I did." My head bowed partway towards the ground, still wondering how I called upon the power.

"Hmmm, heh heh heh…you're a special case you know that?" Axel said in small laughs. I shrugged, biting my lower lip as my face felt hotter, looking back up at him with hesitance with a grin.

"Yeah, so I am-" I cut myself off, observing Axels face that seemed hardened with a cold far off gaze like he was staring at something behind me. I swallowed, turning partway in his eyes direction. "Uh, Axel what is it?" I then saw it, my heart now mimicking jumping jacks.

What stood before me was a man, tall, lean and muscular in appearance with tan skin that looked dark in the shade of the trees. Clumped dark sandy dreadlocks that went pass his visible collarbone, all the while wearing a dark loincloth of animal hide as his sturdy right hand held firmly to a long pointed spear. My eyes bulged out, my breath catching my own breath as I stood still, observing his dark sunken eyes and toned muscles, my mind going blank.

_Oh my gosh, there is a wild man half naked standing in front of me! And that spear sure does look sharp!_

"Uh…m…" I gasped, my tongue twisted. The man grunted, taking a step forward with his bare hard feet. Axel then grabbed my shoulder, standing in front of me while I looked behind his outstretched arm. "Who are you? And where did you come from?" Axel said in forceful solemn voice. My lips almost smacked at his question. _Duh Axel he lives in the jungle! Any civilized person would know that! And why are you standing in front of me? I'm sure I can take care of myself, especially since I just beat up two leopards, even though that man is sorta' intimidating._

But besides that I liked how Axel was showing how protective he was of me, which I tried to ignore given the situation at hand. The reserved man then did something I didn't expect my ears to hear. Within a moment the man opened his mouth, replying to Axel's question, "Tarzan…"

I blinked, awestricken. _Holy cow he speaks! And it's English!_

"I Tarzan…and this my jungle…" the man named Tarzan said, finishing his harmless introduction, his sunken eyes still focused on us. "Ahh…" I whispered, a grin growing on my face. _Wow, maybe I should tell him my name…hmm…he doesn't seem savage or anything, or else he would have been attacked us like those leopards from earlier which were clearly savage…_ Even though he seemed standoffish, I sensed a gentle being from him, or it was probably me just being naïve. Either way I wanted to see what else he was capable of doing. Axel didn't say anything, just a moan escaping his throat like it didn't matter what Tarzan said to him. If Axel wasn't going to say anything back, I certainly was.

My heart throbbed, taking a step forward at Axel's side with a small grin.

"Hi, I'm-"

But Axel interrupted me, grasping my shoulder from advancing any further. I looked at him in defiance, observing his solid face.

"Wha-"

"I don't like this," Axel began almost in a sharp whisper. "I can't trust a person, a stranger who appears out of nowhere like this…especially someone who might be crazy."

"Uh…" _If that was the case how come he came on to me so desperately when we first met? When we were both on that cliff at the islands…?_

Whatever concern he had, it didn't dwindle me none one bit since he was sounding like a hypocrite. I began my introduction again, ignoring Axel's harsh concerns.

"Ahem, like I was saying I'm Deonna…," I said, brushing Axels hand of my shoulder as I took a few more steps up to the man, who seemed a bit dazed at my response, making minor movements with his legs. "A-And this is Axel…" I raised my hand at Axel as a directory for Tarzan to follow. And I just stood there, smiling grimly for a response back from him. It appeared as if the man was thinking, now gazing at us like we were bright stars, and then a smile appeared saying, "Deonna…Axel…" My eyes widened, nodding in excitement. "Yeah that's right Tarzan…"

I looked behind my shoulder at Axel, wondering what he thought of this encounter; his forehead was still wrinkled, peering away in opposition with his arms crossed. My brows curved, clearing my throat as I turned back to Tarzan. _Gee Axel sure can be harsh…_

But when I gave Tarzan my attention again he was already an inch away from my body, tugging gently on my spiral curl like it was a tiny tail.

"Eep…" I almost squeaked, my face turning hot again. _Oh no what is he doing? I should just back away but does he know any better?_

He was so close that I could smell the jungle on him and a bit of must, but observed his face and strong jaw and saw that he was indeed handsome. "Hmm…" he moaned, inching closer to my face as if to sniff my hair. Just then, a shout had both Tarzan and me jerk.

"Alright that's as far you're getting jungle man!" Axel yelled, grabbing me by the waist away from Tarzan forcefully. "Ah ow!" I yelped, finding myself almost hanging in Axel's arms like a rag doll, his arms gripping me above my breast where his arms now circled me. Tarzan snorted, inching back on the offensive. I peered up at Axel, my brows arching as I tried to get out of his tight grasp.

"Axel what's up with you?"

"No Deonna!"

"I can handle myself!" Axel grunted, loosening his grip on me as I jumped out of his arms. "Hmph!" I peered back at him, ignoring his disturbed expression as I looked back at Tarzan, confusion on his face as to what he did wrong; he looked hurt, reminding me of a lost puppy for some reason. I smiled at him with gingerness. "Axel he's innocent…" I said, glancing behind my shoulder at Axel and turning back around. _He's like a little kid…he probably doesn't even know what he done wrong…but he didn't even really do anything wrong…_

But when I turned back around he was just that, gone, sending my head to twist in different directions for him. "What the-where'd he go!"

"Tree?"

"Huh?" I then looked at the big tree that was slit at the bottom of the trunk, finding Tarzan climb up to the first branch swiftly like a monkey, even mistakenly catching a glimpse of his buttock on the way up. _Oh wow…_He then put something down on the branch, quickly observing the area like a bird. He had to be at least twenty-five feet up in that tree and I felt astounded at how a regular human being could just climb up a tree like it was nothing with such swiftness. No doubt was this man raised in this jungle, and to a certain degree I felt inspired somehow.

"Wow Tarzan is awesome," I said in wonder as I clasped my hands together, feeling like I was turning into a fan of the jungle man.

Axel snorted. "Pfft cha wah? He's nothing special even I can climb up a tree like that!"

"Ha! Yeah right, not like that, not that fast. Please, don't hate on the jungle man…" I countered, peering at Axel and looking back at Tarzan.

"Pfft why would I hate on a man who climbs trees like a monkey?"

Tarzan than spoke, speaking loud for us to hear. "Heartless been here!"

My brows twisted, wondering how he figured that out. "Uh yeah, how'd you know that Tarzan?"

To my surprise Axel asked along with me as he stepped up to my left, his sarcasm on the down low as he gestured his hand. "Interesting, how'd you come to that realization?"

With that Tarzan jumped from the tree to ground level on his knuckles like an ape, leaving me grinning. He walked up to us using his knuckles like front feet on a monkey, speaking when he stopped a foot away from our feet. "Gorilla tell me heartless was here, so I investigate area for them…"

"Oh?" Axel asked, a mischievous tone in his voice. I glanced at him, shaking my head at him in annoyance. "The monkey told you that? You're saying you can talk to primates?"

"Yes," Tarzan replied, scratching his head.

"Hmm…" Axel leaned forward as to examine Tarzan more closely, then arched back upright, crossing his arms with his hand to his chin. "I guess that would make sense…"

"Pfft Axel…" I miffed, rolling my eyes. _I know why Axel said that only because Tarzan acts like a monkey in a few ways, but even I had to agree with that one…_

"Uhm, where do you stay Tarzan? Do you know where we can find food?" I asked, leaning over my knees at him. Tarzan grunted, nodding. "Yes, I will take you to my home," he said, turning around, walking forward on his knuckles. "If it is help you need me and my family will gladly help, Jane know what to do…"

"Huh? Jane?" I asked, wondering what I heard was a girl name. Tarzan twisted his upper body in our direction, his head nodding once again. "Yes, my wife…"

"Eh? Wife?" Axel asked in bafflement, his arms still crossed. My brows rose, slightly confused and shocked as well. _Wow, married, interesting…that was least expecting…but still a girl who lives in the jungle, finally someone who understands my pain! _

"A girl here? Please take me to her Tarzan…" I begged, walking towards him as I felt bits of pain swell my insides. Tarzan brows rose at me with curiosity, examining me in a way as he replied, "Uh yes…and food you will eat…"

I looked at Axel with a grin, finding Axel smiling along as well. _Awesome we hit the jackpot…_

Tarzan then broke our gaze, speaking to me in worry. "You hurt…"

"Huh? Uhm…" My body spun back towards Tarzan who was now standing, observing me attentively for a reply while I stared at his squinted grey eyes. _Wow he sure has a strong gaze…_

"Gee, well not really, not anymore, but I'll be fine thanks…" I said with reassurance, scratching my earlobe, pondering how he knew I was in a way hurt. Tarzan grunted again, shaking his head. "My home is not that far, but I sense you should be carried there…"

Just then I felt my heart go '_Ba-Dump!'_ my face experiencing a tingling sensation. "Uh wha-you don't have to…?" I said, glancing at the ground, feeling my arm pits sweat. Tarzan knelt down, crouching over in front of me.

_Huh?_

He turned his head around, a small smile on his face. "Please, we get there faster this way…"

"Uhmmm…" I moaned as my finger reached my lip, glancing over at Axel for his expression; his lip was in a fine line, shrugging at me as if he didn't mind with his nonchalant eyes. "Uh heh heh…okay…?" I said with unsureness, looking back at Tarzan with a wayward smile. "Okay Tarzan…if you insist…"

Tarzan then made a monkey sound as if pleased, turning his head around for me to get on as he stood up half way, noticing how his back was slightly arched forward. _Hmmm, probably from walking like an ape…_

I gulped, standing on my tiptoes, grasping his neck that was covered with thick dry dreadlocks, his skin partially covered in sweat. _Wow how interesting will this be…just what I wanted to do, get on the back of a sweaty ape man, well it's better than walking I'm sure…_

By then, I was now on Tarzan's back, all the while smelling the scent of blueberries off of him. Quietly, I was grinning to myself, admiring Tarzan's gallant trait. "Tarzan you're such a gentleman…" I said, gazing back at Axel who appeared to be blank in the face, his standing position stiff as he gazed on. I could have laughed but didn't, but just continued on with my teasing. "Unlike another person I know…"

Axel's wide eyes blinked, retorting to my frivolous wit in a defiant manner as he sunk his chin to his chest. "Hmph, y'know I can be a valiant guy when I want to be…so don't make it seem like I ain't…"

"Hmm thank you…" Tarzan said, making me give him my attention again. "No problem it's only the truth." Axel scoffed, mumbling loud enough for me to hear. "Pfft you don't even know him…" _Shut up Axel!_

"Hmph at least on my first encounter with him I have a feeling of trust, unlike the first time I met a certain red-head…"

Silence.

I smirked. _Ha ha! Victory is mine once again!_

"Ahem, where did you say your home was again Tarzan?" Tarzan moaned, pointing his finger ahead of us. "West…"

"Ah okay uhm-"

Tarzan than gripped my legs, tightening his hold on me. "Hang on…"

"Uh yea?"

Before I knew it Tarzan was running, running like a panther towards the tree he came down from as the gush of wind blew past my face. "Wh-oa..!" Tarzan was breathing hard, climbing up the big tree with me on top of him like a cub. _Ah no! Please don't drop me! What is he doing! _ My eyes were closed with my face buried between his shoulder blades when he stopped. With reluctance, I brought my face off of him and looked down, amazed at how far off the ground I was and at how quick Tarzan was in doing that stunt; well I have been higher, the only time I didn't mind was when there was water at the bottom, and there was nothing of that nature, just hard core ground. My eyes spotted Axel down below, his hands on his hips as he gazed back up at us with narrowed eyes. My lips smiled, waving at him like I was on a Merry-Go-Round while I perched my legs on the thick greenish branch like I was a bird, all the while balancing myself. "Hey Axel!"

Axel then smirked, waving at me with two fingers. "Hey how's the weather up there!"

"Ah!" I sighed, raising my head up and then down with my eyes closed, absorbing more of the humidity in the air which I wasn't exactly fond of. "Just great! And you don't look so tall anymore yourself! You're like a red ant that could be stepped on!"

"Heh, I fail to see the humor in that!" I giggled to myself, grasping onto Tarzan once again for him to take me away. _Heh heh, Axel's so cute…_

What I thought when Tarzan said he would carry me to his home I figured we would do it by foot; it didn't cross my mind that he would deliberately swing me with him in the trees to get there. When he first climbed up that tree with me on his back I didn't know what he was doing, until he jumped for a vine while I was having heart palpitations in his arms. It was something I had to discipline myself to get used to since it was much faster in away just like Tarzan said, while Axel had to run to keep up with us like a dog. Honestly I was scared for my life, hoping, praying that Tarzan wouldn't drop me to the jungle floor, but a tingly bit of entertainment seeped through me that reminded me of the sensation of diving into a pond or a river; scary fun I would call it. We soon made it to Tarzan's place, not really sure what to expect but a village type of region, not a place where yellow tents were set up and human hardware all around.

"Ah whoa…" I gawked, observing the dense area of human equipment scattered about, a bowel with tall cliffs façade around the camp while a giant house nested in the palm of the massive tree beside the campsite. _Okay I was totally not expecting this…_

"Hmm, seems like jungle man's more advanced than we thought…" Axel said who was now standing at my side. I grinned, walking up to a counter of metallic pots and papers splayed underneath, observing the written handwriting that seemed unreadable in its curving style of writing. My eyes squinted, leaning over more closely for better comprehension. "Hey what you doin'?"

"Uh, just trying to read what this says…"

"Huh? Let's see…" Axel said as he slid his hand under my chin, tugging on the paper underneath the pot and whipping it up to his face. I looked up on his folded arm, trying to get a better look as well. "What's it say?"

Axel moved the paper out of his face, his eyes slit. "Uhm…the language is weird…it's too fancy for my eyes." He then gave me the paper, scratching his head. "Why you so interested anyway?" Axel asked, walking over to a machine on my left with buttons like a piano, fidgeting with the machine like a little kid. "What you're not interested in the different culture of a social group?" I asked, overlooking the handwriting that was actually cursive that appeared all scrunched up together, even my eyes finding it unreadable. _Hehe, Axel can't read cursive…but then again this is not no ordinary cursive either…_

He then looked up from playing with the machine, his head rising to the air in thought. "Huh…hmmm well I've had my share of recon once in my life…"

"Huh?"

Axel shook his head, waving his hand at me to come closer. "C'mere check this baby out."

"Huh? What is it?" He shrugged as I got closer, glancing back at the machine. The mechanism was metallic with a few rows of small buttons that projected from its bottom in the front and an elongated pole on top that was attached to two arched connectors of some sort that connected back to the machine. My brows contorted, touching the warm machine, my fingers falling upon the buttons gently. "Hmm…wonder what this thing is…"

"I don't know what it is, but it makes sound," Axel said, moving my hand away for him to play it like a piano, the pole sliding with every sound it made. "Tic tic tic tic tic ding!" Then the pole went back across the machine. My eyes shot open. "Axel leave it alone you might have messed something up!"

"Hmm…" he then looked away from the machine, walking pass me on my right towards a layer of yellow material that went overhead like a bridge while two hunks of sticks holding it up like tent. "I was getting bored anyway…where's that Tarzan guy anyway?"

_Looking for Jane right? That's why he left us here…_

Axel spoke to soon. "Oh you were right Tarzan we do have visitors…" a woman's voice said.

_Huh?_ I turned from the machine, looking for the voice of the woman. I looked in Axel's direction, finding my target that was standing in front of Axel where Tarzan also stood, sitting on his knuckles. _Hmm there she is…_I thought, walking towards their standing positions as I caught a glimpse of messy brunette hair from the woman's head. "Hi, the name's Axel. Got it memorized?" I heard Axel say when I got there, standing on his left side as I observed the woman's features; she was a fair skin woman with dark blue eyes and thin red lips. Her messy yellow blouse went well with her long green peasant skirt and unkempt long brown hair, her feet bare and dirty like Tarzan's, her height only a about three inches above me. _Hmmm, she certainly seems more civilized than Tarzan. How's that? Was she raised in the jungle to? Probably not…so I wonder how the two of them met… _I smiled to myself. _But besides that I can finally ask her for some pain killers now! She must have some since she lives in the jungle and have found a way to endure menstruation_!

The woman nodded at Axel with a smile who then stared at me, her smile unwavering and pleasant. "Hello my dear," she greeted, extending a rough hand towards me, "I'm Jane Porter but you can call me Jane." Her voice had a certain accent to it that sounded innocent and nice, striking my interest with a smile. "Hello I'm Deonna," I said, shaking her hand. Jane then took a breath of relaxation, clasping her hands together with an exciting shriek as she spoke.

"Alright! Where are you two from? Another world I presume?" she asked. "Uh…" I scratched my head, wondering how all these people knew of the different worlds we went to. Axel chuckled, crossing his arms. "Obvious ain't it?"

She nodded. "Yes indeed, ah…it's so nice to have someone else to talk to in this jungle and to learn of where there from…" she said in a dreamy way, holding her skirt as she swayed in mild spins. I giggled while Axel agreed. "Yeah, being in isolation can sorta' make a person crazy and lonely huh?"

My lips smirked, nudging his shoulder as I replied. "Yeah, somebody like you…" referring to how lonely Axel was before he met me. Axel grunted, laying his hand in my face as a nuisance to irritate me. My ears heard giggling from Jane as I pried his hand off my face, holding it as I asked Jane my most desperate question. "Mrs. Jane, do you have any painkillers? Something to ease my aches and stuff?" _Before it all comes back on me like falling bricks?_ "Uhm…" she mused, her brows curving as she tapped her finger on her lip, placing her other hand on her hip. "Painkillers? You mean…?"

"Like medicine for that '_time of the month'_." Jane's lips opened, nodding her head as to catch my drift. "Ohh that you mean…" she said as she observed me with tender eyes with an understanding smile, gripping my left shoulder as to bring me closer to her. "Of course I do Deonna, herbs should work for you, wouldn't leave England without them that's for sure," she guaranteed. I nodded, pondering what _'England'_ was.

"But first you two should eat and then I'll ask you my questions…and if you have any I'll answer them the best way I can."

_Yeah, I got a few to spare…_

* * *

**Hope you like ^^**

**Reviews makes me happy-leave a comment ^^  
**


	18. QuestionsClue?

**_Hello all! It's been months since I've uploaded anything to this story of mine, and whoever has missed it I'm deadly sorry. I didn't want to become one of those people who never finish their stories and it seems like I'm becoming one, but I will not let that happen. I will finish this story, even if no one reads it or leaves a comment (which happens to motivate me and others to keep on writing). I was seriously distracted the last time I was working on the next chapter, which was months ago with school and work. I just started working on it recently again since I've been inspired to do so. I hope you like this chapter I'm working on and the rest of the story. Thank you for reading. _**

**_~P.S I'm also thinking about shortening some earlier chapters, what do you think? Are they to long?_**

___**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts except for this story and my characters**_

* * *

_**Questions...a clue?  
**_

"You know what? I think I'm turning into a vegetarian," Axel mused as he bit into his banana, his back pressed against the wall fully facing me.

"Ooh I would love to see you try…you wouldn't last a week off of bananas monkey boy…" I snickered while Axel snorted, my eyes observing the spotted banana peel that laid on my lap.

I sighed, turning my head to my right to stare at the woven basket full of fruit that Tarzan and Jane picked out for us to eat. "Ahh, it feels good being here…" I said softly, grabbing a shiny apple for a quick hard bite as its warm juice penetrated my taste buds.

"Mmmhmm…yea it's alright," Axel said in a relaxing tone. "I feel like royalty in this tree house and being catered to like this."

I scoffed, glancing at him and his calm form, his hands hiding behind his head like he was on a beach seat somewhere even though it was a window seat we were on, his one leg up to his chest while the other barley touching the basket. "Yeah…I totally deserve this…so please…" he paused, sliding his leg down as both booted feet moved closer to the fruitful straw basket next to my hand. "Wash and massage my feet servant, now it's your turn to pamper me."

My mouth twisted at his nonchalant attitude, eyeing his big flaked muddy black boots until my boisterous eyes found his grinning face, his head bent back where one could see his Adam's apple protruding out of his neck, suddenly my throat feeling thick. I broke my grimace into a grunt, hiding the feelings that has once again returned, my eyes darting from floor to vine from flower to pots.

"Eh he…Axel you're not all that you know," I said, turning back toward his smirking glance, suddenly feeling witty. My smile turned sardonic. "Bet those feet hasn't been clean since you've put those shoes on, what's it been ten years?"

His mouth partly opened as if surprised by my silly speech, clearing his throat as he fixed his posture more upright in unease. "Dag Deonna that's cold," he said, his eyebrows sinking like ships as he leaned over his upright knee, quickly eyeing his boots.

I shrugged casually as I bit into my apple, trying to act unfazed at his reaction as I leaned back on my right hand. "Well, is it true stinky?"

"Hmm for a matter of fact smart aleck, I happened to have taken a shower at Keeshes place remember?"

I covered my mouth with my palm as I tittered. "Yeah bet that was like your first shower since dinosaurs came into existence, no wonder you're so adequate with fire you must have been leader of the cavemen when they discovered flames." My body shook as my eyes could hardly keep themselves open as I looked at Axel's stiff dazed expression, while I bent over my legs, covering my mouth as I laughed at myself. _Oh man I crack myself up…_

Of course I wasn't trying to hurt Axel's feelings. Just entertaining myself by making Axel the pit of my jokes. Is that annoying to him though? Then a coherent thought crossed my mind, wondering would Axel get me back for insulting him. My giggles droned, patting my chest as I swallowed with repeated blinks, arching back up to stare at a cat eyed Axel, his hardened face wanting to choke me telepathically. "Ah hehe…" I chuckled nervously, letting the apple roll out my hand onto the seat that dropped on the woodened floor as I crawled over to him, his green eyes watching me like I committed murder.

"Uh, Axel, I was just playing with you…you know that right? Axel?" I said, sitting on my knees on his left side with my hands on my lap, the air in the room feeling more polluted with heat than I would want it to be. I inched closer to his face, hoping he would give into my pleas with the a look I usually showed when I was begging for something I wanted. "Hmm? Come on Axel don't be so sensitive…" My hands reached for his face, squishing his warm cheeks playfully, trying to soften his tense aura. There wasn't much change in his expression, only the fact that his eyes became more like a narrowed line you would see on a piece of paper . I whined, wishing he wasn't mad at my idiocy. "Axel don't be mad, get glad," I said with a small grin, entertaining myself once more.

After that I observed Axel's face muscles soften as a small chuckle escaped his lips, his glossy green eyes on mine, suddenly catching me off guard because now my I could hear the pulse of my heartbeat. My hands were still on his oily face, which I have forgotten until he grasped them with his hands, his head tilting to the side in the process with an adorable childish look. "Deonna it's alright, sometimes this one wants to feel special to…"

"...What?"

Axel just smiled, moving my hands off his face and angling forward to take a green pear from the basket. I sat back, just now understanding what just happened here as I observed Axel trying to peel the dirty pear of its skin. My eye twitched like a fly. _Axel…he just played me for a fool…_

I pointed my finger at him, my mouth partly opened as my nerves began to rise. "Axel, you did that on purpose didn't you?" I caught a glimpse of a smile on his face before he turned his head to the right, his body shaking with slight muffles of laughter. "No r-really I am hurt…really hurt…" he said, sounding like the boy who cried wolf. My hands found their way onto my hips as my eyes slit. "Liar."

"Well, I like it when you beg me for your forgiveness, I feel like we're even now, don't you?" he said, his head turning in my direction with an impish grin as he slouched over, sticking the already bitten fruit under my nose with it juice contents rolling over itself. "Pear?"

"Oh I oughta…" I raised my fist at him with a mild tremble. "Psst chill dude-I mean, uh, girl…" he said with uncertainty, looking away to eat his pear. I huffed, quickly dismissing what we were talking about with a tired comfortable yawn, thinking when Jane would come back to see us. My eyes were bricks, the cramps in my stomach making me fall forward on top of my belly, lying next to Axel's elongated leg like it was a log. _Hmmm, _w_hen would Jane come back with that tea? I definitely want to try it._ Jane set out to get me some herbs for my period, something called 'Black'…something and it's supposed to help me with my cramps. _I wonder how well these herbs will do, especially since they're not exactly solid supplements._ The seeping of sleep wanting to devour my mind and body, I let it, even though there was much to do in the day ahead. _Ahh…I think…a nap…would be…fine…_

Just before I could submerge myself into lala land, a poking sensation on my shoulder shook me from my fatigue. "Deonna, get back up don't go to sleep now."

"Hmm? What?" My head rose up, observing Axel's hand now shoving me to move.

" Come on girl you gotta stay alert, no matter how tired you are, even during that girl thing you're on heartless could come up anytime…" he said, helping me sit upright, even flickering water in my face from a bowl. "Ah ok ok sheesh! Stop that I'm not unconscious!" I growled, flapping my hands at him. He laughed, grabbing hold of my shoulders and shaking me mad, light-headedness clouding my head.

"Axel you pest! Stop or I'll foot slap you!" I barked, putting my hand on his face to push him away.

"Hehe…" He rubbed his nose, eyeing me with mischievousness. "Foot slap?"

My arms crossed with hooked eyebrows. "Yeah, a technique that requires flexibility and focus, which shouldn't be to hard for me even in this state."

"Uh-huh…well since I'm such a good person, I'mma let you lay here for a bit," he said, waving his finger at me, "but no sleeping you hear? I don't want you to kill me for waking you up because some heartless decided to show…" I giggled a bit, watching him slide towards the floor. "And you're going to sit there?"

"Yep, on the dirty ratty old floor."

"Ha, what a gentlemen…" I said, lying in his spot where it was warm. "I like that…"

He didn't respond right away, folding his arms as he said, "Go to sleep."

My brow raised, observing the side of his face. "Ah!" I chirped, "someone's blushing~" He groaned, shaking his head. "I don't even know what that is…"

"Yea Axel you're such a good person to me, such a gentlemen," I teased, playing with his hair. His hands came upon his head as if to guard it from me, his head turned in my direction with an awkward facial expression, his face partly red. "You're evil…your hormones are definitely off."

My mouth opened, but remained silent as I saw a lady out of the corner of my eye coming from the door by the entrance. I eyed Jane with a shy grin as I straightened myself upright, rubbing my clothes of imaginary dirt. Axel turned to see what threw me off the subject and remained silent with a small wary smile, observing the small tray in her hands that held a white floral tea cattle and a matching teacup on top. Jane smiled at us like we were children, standing right in front of us with a nice pleasant smile on her sweaty face.

"Ah right, how you two doing? Was the fruit good?"

I nodded with a grin. "Yes, the fruit was good. Thanks again."

"Yes, no problem sweet heart," she said, her smile never fading, leaning over with the tray of tea toward me. "Here are the herbs I told you about. Black Cohosh…"

My eyes sparkled, observing the evaporated smoke coming from the dark tea. _Huh?_ As my nose grasped the smell of the tea, my eyes became hollow and my smile grew glum, decreasing my yearn for the tea. _Ah crap… _I controlled myself from making a funny face at the smell of tea as I took it from the tray, hiding my true feelings with a sheepish grin. "Th-thank you Ms. Jane…"

"Oh your welcome," she said with a grin, bending back as she set the tray beside me. "But I must say it won't taste all that pleasant though."

"Wow that smells…delightful…" Axel said with a cunning smile.

I stuck my tongue out at him then focused back on the smell of the tea, which was something I was to let in my mouth. _Great it's already hot but I don't want a nasty taste in my mouth to go along with it…_

"Come on now it's not going to help you by just staring at it! Come on drink drink!" Jane urged as she sat down beside me.

Then Axel decided to chant along. "Yeah come on Deonna! Chug! Chug! Chug!"

"Shut up Axel!" With that I decided to set my feelings aside about the smell and just drink it down, thinking it probably wasn't all that bad. I was wrong. My eyes bulged at the bitter taste that compared perfectly to its smell as it covered my tongue, forgetting how hot the tea was as I squirted the liquid right out of my mouth like a spray bottle. Both Jane and Axel flinched and yelped, startled by my sudden waterworks. I didn't look at their expressions since I was more focused on what just happened to me, my face turning warmer and warmer like sand on a hot beach.

"Uhh…" I licked my lips, bowing my head out of embarrassment.

"Good christ Deonna!" Jane scolded, now up on her two feet in shock. "Yeah, I pity you now," Axel said who was still sitting down, but scooted away when I exploded, his tone lacking sympathy but sarcasm. "Uhm…sorry?" _Shoot…_

* * *

After that incident Jane decided to add some sugar to the tea, even though she added some before she gave it to me. If the tea tasted that bad then I needed a whole bag full of sugar to get rid of that bad taste that was left in my mouth, something that peanuts did to me when I ate them. Few minutes passed by as I finally killed the rest of the tea that has been sparsely sweetened, even asking Jane for another cup for Axel who bugged out at my offer. Then finally, we decided to talk.

"Okay Deonna and Axel, what brings you two here at the jungle?" Jane asked, her knees crossed as she bent forward in curiosity, sitting on an old chest in front of us.

"Well uhm you see-" Axel started but was cut off from Jane's anxiousness. "Where are you two from? How are the worlds like compared to this one?" I chuckled, observing Axel's piqued expression from Jane's cheeriness. "

Well let's see…" I began, taking Axel's place. "I'm from Destiny Islands and Axel's from…" I said, gesturing my hand in his direction for him to speak for himself. "Hollow Bastion, though it used to be something different, but that was a long time ago…"

Jane's expression turned to oddity, her fingers on top of her lips. "What? I don't think I understand. Something different?"

_…Axel might not want to talk about it that much…_ My eyes glanced in his direction, wondering what he was going to say next. His profile was sharp and stiff, seemingly reluctant to answer that question as he stared into space. My lips pursed, his tense body rubbing off on me as my eyebrows felt heavy. We finally got a chirp out of him within a few seconds, replying in a brooded voice, "Heartless happened, that's what changed it to Hollow bastion…"

"Oh…" Jane said in a sympathizing voice, "I'm sorry I didn't know." Axel shook his head, raising his leg above his other. "No it's all right, but like I said, it happened a long time ago…" After that the room was silent, the birds outside the tree house sounding as if they were right next to out ears, singing to us a pleasant melody. I wiped the sweat off my forehead, wanting this marathon of silence to end. My fingers held each other as I coughed to encourage more talking, forcing a grin within the stubborn atmosphere. "All right Jane, is there anything else you want to ask?"

Jane looked at me, leaning back upright with a small smile. "Well I don't really want to intrude-"

"No it's all right Jane just ask me okay? Your not a nuisance." My right eye snuck a glance at Axel, wanting him to say something so Jane wouldn't have to worry. I was about to whisper his name, but caught it when he spoke aloud.

"Don't worry Jane, I'm just not up to speaking about my home world right now. Come on I don't bite…" Jane's face turned to relief, her body appearing to soften at Axel's reassurnace. I smiled, brushing my shoulder against his arm. My heart began to beat when he looked at me.

"Well Deonna, so how is your home world like?" She said with her hands holding her chin up. I gave her back my attention as I tried to ignore the feeling in my gut. "It's a great place to live. It's an island with other miniature ones around it. The sunset's are great and the ocean's water is refreshing to swim in."

"Yeah fish water…" Axel said. "You always got something to say do you?" _At least you're acting normal though…I'll take the annoying Axel then the sensitive sad Axel any day._

Jane was giggling as she observed us. "You two are funny characters. It must be l-o-v-e…"

At that moment Axel and me turned in her direction, astonished at the letters that came from her mouth. "Uh-huh?" Axel asked like a dummy. Jane just giggled more with her hand on her mouth like a little girl. My eyes were stuck on her, my throat growing big. _Did she just spell what I think she spelled?_ My face could blister from the heat that seethed from me like a volcano, sitting like a rock as I avoided eye contact with Axel. _Why does it have to be true though…why?_

"Uhm, lady, I'm not in love with her…" Axel said, who suddenly stood up. Jane just waved her hand in disbelief. "Oh pish-posh, you just don't know it yet…oh for goodness sake I'm just teasing you two…"

"Oh…" I squeaked, turning away to avoid eye contact with anyone, my cheeks tingling. Axel grunted, sitting back down with unusual tension as he scratched his head. "I knew that." _Yeah right…_

After that, Jane asked us why we were here, which finally brought Sora into the picture. My insides fluttered when she told us she knew Sora, but evaporated soon after; she was reluctant to tell us where Sora went to, especially since she didn't know us very well, another bump in the road. Even though he cloaked it, Axel was bothered about explaining himself to her, a fake grin on his face before he spoke.

"We need Sora because-"

"We need-I need Sora to help me…that's why Jane," I blurted, piercing her eyes with mine like ice. _I need her to tell me. _

"There's a darkness on the rise and I need him to help me defeat it, and time is seriously wasting Jane, so please tell me…" My voice sounded low, almost like a groan, trying to hold in my excitement by griping my pants. Both eyes were on me, my head hanging low from being in the spotlight. There was a pause before anyone said anything, which broken from Axel's mouth. "Yeah what she said, true story…" He pushed me gently, waking me up from my anxious thoughts. My eyes wondered into his where I spotted a twinkle as if he was saying, '_Stop worrying you douche…'_

I bit my lip, trying to contain a smile as I looked away, focusing back my attention to Jane. I knew that Jane was focused on thinking about what I said, for it was mapped all over her face. She then spoke within the few seconds that passed by. "Hmm…well alright then," Jane said as she stood up stiffly, staring at me with compassion.

"I'm sorry my dear please be patient with me, y'know I have to look out for the boy. Something's always after him…" She walked towards the door, hands clutched behind her, the eerie silence emitting from her making it seem like she had a lot to say. My suspicions grabbed hold as I rose, following the path towards the door to see what she was looking at.

"You see," Jane began, "I'm not really sure where he went to exactly, for he was just here a while ago." My eyes widened, staring at her like a lost puppy.

"What? Really!"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, the only thing he told me was that he was searching for something that is of great value, a person actually…"

_What? A person? What does that mean?_

Axel stood there out of the corner of my eye with the same thinking expression as mine. "A person huh? Seems pretty ironic don'tcha think?" Axel stated, rubbing his chin with a small beam, the detective unfolding the case. Insecure, my eyes wondered around as I reflected what I just learned.

"Y-y'a mean he's…looking for…me?"

Axel shrugged. "That might be the case, but we can go with that…of course unless," Axel folded his arms, a new idea popping up into his head, "he's looking for your sis to or someone entirely different, I don't know I could be wrong."

"…"

His ideas stood out in my mind like a puzzle, figuring out which pieces went together or not. _My sis…?Could that be true? We might just be looking for the same person…or could that person be me or…?_

Axel snapped me out of my thoughts. "Either way we still gotta look for him."

"…yea we do…" I said, scratching my cheek, both ideas stuck in my head as I peered down towards the floor. "So now what? What you two plan to do to find him?" Jane asked, wanting in on the plan. I was doubtful, my mind going blank for some reason as I gazed at her.

"What we've been doing all along," Axel chimed, " playing hound dog."


	19. A Book of Moments

**_Sorry this one took so long. Hope you enjoy it either way. If there's any grammar mistakes please let me know ^^_  
_Disclaimer:(Look in first chapter)_**

**A Book of Moments**

* * *

"Ah man! This is a nightmare!"

"Be quiet you're making my ear drums bleed."

"Ah! I can't help it Axel!"

I paced up to his side as my fingers gripped the straps of my bag, tension on the verge of explosion as we walked through a forest pasture of mid-light.

"I mean as soon as we get here heartless come and go rabid on us! Why is it so hard to be a Keyblade wielder? I didn't ask for this! I'm on my PERIOD for Christ sakes! And-!" My words came to a halt, taking notice of Axel's being.

His forehead was bare, assorted with twitching muscles and eyes that appeared dead to the soul, walking in an assertive stride all the while being mute. He must have saw that I was looking at him because after a few seconds of silent words he stared at me, ceasing our steps all together with a dead-eyed stare, a hunter ready for the slaughter.

_Yikes! _ I shuttered, his peeved uneven expression causing my nerves to startle as I flinched away. My hands formed a shield as he moved closer, about to tear out my soul with his eyes like daggers as he roared. "Deonna…SHUT THE HECK UP!"

My throat was in a knotted rope as I backed up, bumping into a hard tree behind me as classic bewilderment smeared onto my face, staring madly at him like he was a predator.

_Crap I over did it now!_

Cowering over, I motioned my hands back and forth to try and calm him down, though he appeared to have gone rogue with his flared nostrils and electric eye balls that shocked me all the way down to my tailbone. The sentiments of sadness and guilt came rushing in like water as I gazed at his distressed demeanor and psyche, his tightened fist showing how much anger he was subduing. My hands felt a little clammy as I came to realize my error, leaving my hands in front of me as I straightened my posture.

_Geeez nice going Deonna…well I don't blame him, I would be mad at me to…._

Though his expression was still tensed, it was the slip I caused that still had to be corrected, which was hard since his eyes were stuck to my movements. "Ok Axel I'm sorry. Really I wasn't thinking about what I was saying and that you had to put up with that. Please forgive me." As soon as those words left my lips, I saw that my actions were in comparison to listening to a baby screaming in your ear for three minutes, which actually doesn't seem to be much but felt like forever. Definitely not a laughing matter.

My eyes observed his intake of my apology, his face seemingly to loosen at my remorseful chant, his eyebrows setting in its natural state.

Taking regard of this, I folded my hands together with an upside down grin and brood eyebrows. "Axel really please I'm sorry I was just-"

To my surprise, Axel cut me off as he shook his head. "No it's ok. Stop apologizing I'm the one who should be asking for mercy…I mean you…" he paused, looking away as he scratched his head. "I can understand you're really stressed and feeling pretty bad, so I shouldn't have yelled, I shoulda tried lightening up the situation…" he said as he gazed back at me in his own guilt.

I smiled shyly, scratching the area where I bumped it against the tree earlier. "Ah, I think I deserved it. Complaining so much like a baby…yea no one wants to hear that right?"

"You're right no one wants to hear it," Axel said as he crossed his arms. "But it's good to get stuff off your chest and have someone to listen to if they're willing, even if it has to be me…"

I gave an insecure grin, watching him close his eyes in thought.

"Point is I should have tried to make you feel better instead of making things worse…" He opened his eyes, looking wasted to the bone as he shifted one leg to the other.

I nodded, observing his tired posture. "Yeah okay Axel…heh but no one's perfect so um…" I mumbled, my sentence drifting off like a mute note.

Axel cocked his head to the side with drowsy eyes. "So, Deonna, wanna take a break while were at it?"

"Huh?"

He then pointed his finger towards the tree behind me. I turned around to inspect his find; a brown smooth tree with long skinny limbs as branches with green leaves, which interestingly, was surrounded by colorful red and orange leaves like a blanket.

"Here?"

"Yeah why not?"

I looked back at him, pressing my lips in thought as Axel gazed on for an answer.

But we just started back on the road again from Jane's place. Will we be just wasting time if we kept on making resting stops along the way?

My breath gave out a sigh as my eyes drifted down, feeling the strength in my body waste away with every minute that passed. "You sure about that? Maybe we should just keep going, I mean we just came from Jane's place a while ago?"

Axel shifted slightly, heaving out a sigh. "Hmm…heh," Axel chuckled, making me look up in curiousness to his answer. "Deonna, with all that complaining you did I would expect to see a beam from you about the idea…" Axel said with a grin, causing embarrassment to summon forth within me. "But it's alright to take a break again. I mean you can't really accomplish anything if you don't have the energy right? Besides I'm pooped…"

He then walked over by the tree and sat in the leaves, leaning his back on the giant plant like it was a recliner. His green eyes drifted to me, smiling mixed with fatigue as he patted the forest floor on his right side, signaling me to sit with him.

"Come on and stop standing there like a zombie…"

I chuckled. _Yea I probably look like one, since I especially do feel like I am… _

As I started to sit at his side I darted a glance at the road we were walking on, having the need to continue walking but also wanting to succumb to the needs of my body.

My weary muscles tingled as they became suppressed from standing and walking, my whopped body feeling the least bit relaxed from the hard ground and tree which I rested on. But you got to use what you got and be happy about it.

I sighed in relief as the voice of Axel seemed to smooth my stress. "See does that feel better?"

My eyes were closed as water mustered in its corners, an uncomfortable sensation that compressed my sight as I wiped the tears that have spilled. "Yeah you were right, we both needed this…"

"Mmhmm…"

My eyes opened, blurred from the tears that made my vision smudge.

Axel appeared at the corner of my face with big green eyes, hardly keeping themselves open even for my view.

"What?"

He shrugged. "Your eyes look glossy…"

I smiled slightly, gazing down at my legs that were partly covered with leaves.

"Thanks for noticing, I guess…" I snickered, wondering how I was going to lay for some well rested sleep.

Axel chuckled, followed with a yawn as he stretched his arms and legs out. "kay well, I'mma sleepin now…night…" he said, sitting back with his head down as his eyes closed shut.

"Mmm ok…" Without thinking my head pressed upon Axel's arm as my body turned for some comfort from him, something I didn't realize I was doing until I felt Axel's body stiffen.

"Uh…uhm…he-" Axel stammered.

"…hmm?"

A cough in Axel's throat could be heard, his body temperature warm and steady rising.

His breathing felt a little wispy, the arm I was resting on moving up and over my shoulder as if to reassure my resting position on him, making me feel that we have gotten this close to each other to even act out on such an arrangement.

A comforted moan came from within me, smiling as I hugged his torso like a teddy bear, his chest like a pillow to me.

Axel snorted. "Oh I get it so I'm your bed now? Heh whatever that's fine, don't mind me then, just squeeze me to death why don'tcha…"

"Shhh!"

_Poured sand lied on a gloomy beach, dark clouds billowing the sky as if to evoke an emotion from within. The waves crashed against each other like running bulls, tumbling over each other in fury. Yes, this scene was familiar to my eyes, something that I've experienced with an elder fellow, one who had control over darkness and as it seems, even dreams. He appeared before me, his grey fancy vest showing silver intricate designs of swirls in certain areas, complimenting his black dress pants and shoes as if to leave off an impression on me, as if this was a business ordeal he needed to partake in. A smirk spread across his pale face, taking a step forward in the sand that left a dent as the other followed. A growl came forth as I watched his every step, digging my bare feet in the sand to stand my ground. He then stopped a few inches from me, speaking in a deliberate deep voice. _

"_Ah, I seen you have gotten stronger my dear, that's good, really good, just what I wanted to see from you love…"_

_I grunted at the word 'love' that came from his grotesque being, wondering what he meant by his words._

"…_What does that suppose to mean?"_

_He chuckled as he relaxed one hand on his hip, his green-bluish eyes searching through me like a telescope. "One day you will see what I mean, something you should take into account for the time you are still here, alive, destroying heartless that only search for meaningless hearts…you see…" he wandered, stepping up to me while I took a step back, creating a pattern._

_His arms came up mid-air as he spoke, walking to me. "You might think you got it, but really, you don't have it figured out yet, yes?"_

_I continually stepped back, not sure how to answer. Frustration was clouding up my insides, wondering why I had to be here now listening to a maniac. Why is it hard so control this dream? The obvious answer is because of him._

_I growled, mixed emotions of confusion and anger wanting to burst, though I held it tightly with strength. "Got what figured out?"_

The motions of his feet stopped, causing me to halt as I observed his nonchalant expression. "Heh, my poor rose…you're so lost…what you need is some inspiration from one who is a Dream giver."

'_Dream giver?'_

"_The light that is inside is strong indeed, but can you use it wisely? Well, this one thinks not." He stretched out his hand with a soft glow in his eye, enticing me with the deceptive nature within. "Here, I can show you what you are capable of my dear and you will never be lost. Just taste and you will drink it all…"_

_It felt like my head was about to explode as I listened to the dark keeper himself, asking me to take up his offer like this. Like he would be so sure I would say yes. The muscles in my face twitched as a menacing irked grin came upon my face, eyeing him disparagingly. I shook my head, chuckling to myself with my hands on my hips._

"_Ok, ok…I get it, you must be on something to come to the conclusion I would ever ask you for guidance. Kingdom hearts is my guide sir! And that's enough for me!"_

_A vicious grin came upon his lips, his hand falling down slowly to his side. 'Ah, ok then girly, just so you know that was your choice, a ten second choice you made without giving much thought of …hmm, perhaps I should give you more time…"_

_With those last words the atmosphere became thicker while my vision became blurry, having me stumble back while grasping my neck for air. "Ac-Ack!" I choked hoarsely, stepping back and rubbing my eyes, trying to regain focus on the person before me. It was like sucking air through a straw filled with frosting, and viewing the scenery like it was a dark abstract painting. Little bits of my environment began to disappear as darkness filled my eyes. Yellow and red dots appeared, the silhouettes of small and big creatures watching me, an entertainer in the spotlight. Then, among there midst was the man right before me, standing over me while I suffered form the lack of oxygen and movement at his feet. Light showed from underneath his face, showing the horrific features of his black eye balls and white pale visage, speaking in a sinister sound as he bent low to my level. "In front of Attrox, never say Kingdom Hearts in my presence…"_

* * *

A trance was what I was in; mesmerized by the features of the attack he left on my mind.

"Atrrox…" I whispered, feeling its meaning is something to be feared and not take lightly, though I didn't know what it meant, it sounded something deathly and evil. My eyes searched the blue tinted sky above, exploring the tree limbs and green colored leaves that left shadows on the ground below. Birds flew overhead in a game of hide-and-seek, the gentleness of the wind helping them push along. Observation of the scenery helped me come out of my spell as I sat up from slouching back. I rubbed my eyes.

"A-Axel…?" I mumbled, looking to my left only to see an empty space where a 'Nobody' should be.

_What? Where he go…?_

I laid my head back against the tree, huffing as I stared up into the sky. "Axel where'd you go?"

With that I got up after a few moments of thinking and started down the path Axel and me was walking down before, hoping he went that way and not any other way. All the while I was trying to focus on my environment, gazing at the trees and animals that passed by either by flight or ground, trying not to dilly-dally about what I dreamt of. A scent went up my nose, my other senses on halt as I sniffed the air for its source that reminded me of ocean water. My mouth was parched, which had me thinking of the juicy fruit in my backpack that I got from the jungle world. But I ignored my hunger and thirst to search for a body of water as I walked down the path I made for myself. My grin got bigger and wider as my ears caught on the sounds of ocean waves coming forth through the trees that shone brightly from the sun in the blue sky. My footsteps, at last walked out of the forest of luscious green into an area that was covered in sand and a blue sea of water to compliment its presence. The sky was so blue, having only a few puffy clouds in its midst like stickers.

"Wow…" I gasped with a smile, walking out into the sand as I placed my backpack on the ground, admiring the scene as nostalgia decided to peek in. The hand of the wind brushed my cheek, reminding me of home on Destiny islands and how everything looked so similar in appearance. My eyes hurt from the emotion I felt. I bowed my head, staring at the million beads of sand that lined the seashore, wondering if I should take off my shoes, as if I had nothing else to do that day.

"Hey, how's it going you?"

_Huh?_

My body jumped from surprise, spinning frantically to my left to locate the source of the voice. It was Axel, leaning against the base of a tree a few steps away, looking well relaxed with his arms crossed as he stared at me for a response.

"Heh heh, sorry if I scared you."

"Ah no it's alright…" I said, feeling red-faced as I peered down shyly, remembering the motive I had for coming out here in the first place.

"Hey wait, I was looking for you y'know. Why you leave me there alone while I was sleep?" I said irritably, looking back up with my arms crossed

Axel gave me a wayward grin, cute even. "Well I didn't want to wake you up," he said, sighing as he rubbed the back of his neck " you looked so peaceful and all that I didn't want to mess with you. Looked like you was having a nice sleep…"

"Ah I see…" I said gazing away, knowing that my rest was not all that peaceful.

"So, how's it going? How is your monthly thing? Did you sleep good at all?" Axel probed, encouraging eye contact and communication between us.

I looked back at him, nodding as my shoulders rose and fell. "Yea I'm okay, Seems like that tea did help me out some, for the time being until it wares off anyway. I actually feel pretty good I guess…"

Axel smiled. "Yeah? That's good…"

"And you?"

"Mmm…I'm fine. Don't have to worry about me. Got it memorized?"

I snorted, rolling my eyes with a smirk as I walked up to him, leaving prints in the sand with every step. "And why are you out here?"

His eyes appeared small as he gazed at me then at the ocean, signals of thoughts going through his mind. He huffed a sigh, placing his hands on his hips as he leaned off the tree. "Well, I decided to listen and look at the waves. Even the birds." He shook his head, a grin appearing then fading away. "It just so happens that this place brings up memories of my past, those good ones. That and I couldn't sleep…" He then looked at me, shrugging.

"Heh ah ha…ok then."

I turned back to the sandy beach, wondering what we should do. The air was very warm, just like the other worlds we have already visited and this beach reminded me so much of home that only made me want to forget about my worries and jump in the water like a child. Let my feet feel that sand between my toes and splay my body out in it like it was fresh snow. My mind got lost in the idea with a pleasant smile, indulging myself in the fantasy of relaxation and fun that I very well wanted to do. Then it hit me.

My hands found themselves behind my back as I spun myself to face Axel once more, this time with a giddy grin.

"Hey Axel! Wanna go get in the water!" I asked as if I was a four-year-old child with a smile that beamed of thrill.

Axel stared at me with his arms crossed; a bothered expression he gave as if I told him pigs could fly. "That's funny Deonna, I almost took you serious there for a sec."

"Heh well that's the thing. I am serious…" I said, gesturing my arms out at my sides.

I could clearly see that Axel was not up to it, definitely not in agreement with my wishes as he featured that scorned expression of his. My brows furrowed. "Hmph, whatever…"

My body turned back around, taking my shirt off for my torso to be penetrated by the warm air and to feel freer, only wearing a black sports bra on top. As I stretched my arms up I could hear Axel in a midst of confusion by the sound of his voice, which bore humor to my mood.

"Deonna what the heck you think you're doing!"

"Hmm?"

I looked back at him, taking in his overwhelmed being with my entertained eyes, observing his staggered panic form like he has never seen quite a specimen as myself. My hands covered my mouth as giggles came forth, taking notice of his agitated red face and his tapered eyebrows with startled eyes to match.

I placed my hand on my hip, hoping he would snap out of his daze as I spoke. "Axel…really? Come on now quit acting like you've never seen a girl with a sports bra on before…"

"I…uh…Deonna…" he sputtered, his edgy expression starting to soften on me. He scratched his head as he muffled a cough, straitening his body back to position with his hands at his sides.

"Oh Axel, you're making me blush…" I said in a teasing manner, holding my cheeks bashfully,

Axel's eyes widened yet again, his mind trying to take over his nervous facade as if there was nothing wrong with him. Try as he might, he could not fool me.

He groaned as he touched his neck, trying to appear austere as he spoke. "That's not true, you just caught me by surprise that's all…" he said, finally responding to my question, his cheeks auburn as he turned his head to the side with folded arms, trying to seem indifferent.

My arms crossed with a smirk. "Rrriiight…"

With that I stepped up to him, grasping his arm with a tug. "Well come on let's go walk on the beach!"

Axel shook a bit when I grabbed him, taken back by my enthusiastic attitude as he stared back at me keyed up.

"De-Deonna we can't be playing around now. We got things to do and far more-"

"I know that Axel…" I said, cutting him off, "but I need to feel joy and lessening up right now. You get it it's a need?"

Axel opened his mouth but closed it quickly, his green eyes peering down in thought with a huff. "Huh…have it your way…"

A smile came stitched to my face, hugging Axel gleefully as he tried to pry me off of him. Yeah, Axel has issues.

"Hey, how long we going to be walking here?" Axel asked, strolling on my left side with his hands in his pockets.

My eyes stayed focused ahead, my teeth gnawing on the kiwi I just bitten into, it's pleasant juices filling my taste buds. "Hmm…for a while I guess. Heh, you're complaining already and we just started like one minute ago…"

"Pfft complaining? You're one to talk."

"Hmph…" I reacted with an impish smirk, harboring another bite from the fruit as I glanced at the rushing waters that sang its own music to my ears, the same way a bird would sing to its chicks.

There was silence between us as we walked along the shoreline, something I seemed to revel in as I listened to my oceanic environment. The cawing of seagulls flying overhead, the smell of salt sea water that gave me nostalgic memories, the sand underneath my feet that absorbed the heat from the sun, as well as other things I treasured that reminded me of home.

As I daydreamed, the interruption of a voice came into play on my radio. "So, Deonna, I just wonder why," Axel began, making me turn to focus in on his question, "…or have you ever wondered why Kingdom Hearts said you had to be the one to find Sora and defeat that Improbus?"

"Ah…hmmm," I mused, my brows furrowing as my eyes mirrored down at the wet mushy sand, the cold water rushing at my feet on the right. "Ah…I don't…even know…"

Actually, I never did ask Kingdom Hearts why it did have to be me or ever thought about it. I just accepted it no questions asked.

_But what if I can't find Sora in time or even beat Attrox? Just like I said I before, why me? I can't even get him to go away in my dreams. And boy, do those dreams seem real. It's creepy and scary…like a nightmare…_

Anxiousness started to seep in, taking another bite of the fruit to help absorb my anxiety. I sighed, looking up at Axel with gloomy eyes. "Axel, do you think I'm even good enough to actually win this? I mean look at me, I'm my own damsel in distress…"

His lips turned upward, a small grin with words to follow as he looked upon me. "Well, all I can really say is…well…" He then appeared unsure as he turned away, looking straight ahead as he chewed over it. There was a long pause.

"Axel?" I tugged his arm, wondering did he have an answer or not. He gazed back at me with a wary grin with his final answer.

"Probably there is something Kingdom Hearts see in you that you can't really see in yourself at this time…"

"…Really? You think so?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right…yep I know so…"

The apprehensiveness felt as if to settle within me. Though it was still there, Axel's words helped to calm my mind like a melody would. He always give me a boost when I'm in the lumps, something I've taken notice of recently.

I beamed him a smile as I pressed my head against his arm like a pup then removing it as I stretched my arms up with glee. "Ahhh…" I sighed in a carefree tone, my eyes closed as the wind made me feel like a bird in the sky, daydreaming again. "You give good advice Axel. Have I ever told you that?"

Axel chuckled. "Heh heh heh, no you haven't, but hey I try. So thanks…"

"Yeah, old people always know more than us youngsters…"

No words came from him, except for the pushing action that came from his hand onto my body. Just a little playful push nothing to be bothered by, except for the fact that the kiwi in my hand slipped out onto the ground. My eyes opened as I squeaked, my foot steps stopping as I darted at my now dirty kiwi that was partially filling my appetite with its cool delicious flavor, the last one I had. My insides burned as I slowly turned to glare at Axel who was standing there beside me, observing me with a bashful grin as he rubbed his head. He took it upon himself to try to lighten the heated atmosphere that was leaking from me with a joke, but apparently it did just the opposite. "Oh look at that it's not just a kiwi anymore, it's a sandy kiwi. Heh, get it?"

My teeth grinded, snarling at his retarded joke as I took a step forward closer to him as he took a step back with his hands up midway like a shield. "Axel…" I groaned in a sinister voice.

"Uhm Deonna, calm down I can always find another on-"

"AXEL THAT WAS THE LAST ONE I HAD AND YOU MADE ME DROP IT YOU IDIOT!"

This was the first time I had seen Axel shriek as he leaped out of my anger zone, speeding down the coast while I chased after him in fury.

After a few minutes of a game of chase, the match soon ended with me pinning him to the ground. With his tired psyche, it was easy for me wrestle him to the ground without him putting up much of a fight.

My teeth was bare as I chuckled, breathing heavily as sweat seeped on my forehead, watching Axel catch is breath with his eyes closed, his chest rising up and down as sweat was evident on his face and collarbone.

"Hah! Looks like you're getting old Axel…" I snickered, waiting to see what he would say next.

His breathing started to slow, licking his lips as he answered. "Y-Yeah, we'll see about that…"

Then out of the blink of an eye he was on top pinning me to the ground like it was his turn to overshadow me. I gave him a 'What-the-heck' look as he sat there with a smug look on his face as he chuckled. "See? This old man saw his chance and went after it…have any other objections?"

I stuck my tongue out at him, letting a small grin paint itself on my lips. "Whatever…"

"Yeah that's what all girls come up with when they have nothing else to say," Axel taunted as his breath billowed on my exposed skin.

My lips remained silent as I observed our physical position and Axel's gentle mien; his jawbone, reddened warm looking lips, eyebrows and green emerald eyes. All of it gave me a funny sensation inside, something only Axel could do to me like it was an unknown power he didn't know he had. The sound of the ocean, the cawing of the birds went mute to my senses, leaving only the heat of the sun to intensify my anticipated mood. Before I knew it my eyes were focused on his and they could not turn away as long as he was doing the same. My throat felt clogged, his cheeks a dash shade of pink with a miniature light smile. "Axel…" I whispered, wondering were my eyes playing tricks on me, as it seemed his lips were a peck away.

Before the situation advanced any further, a sickening feeling crept up into my chest, ending the moment that could have been as a voice perked my ears.

"Whoa! What a site this is!" said a male voice coming from the distance. Both of our eyes widened in dismay, Axel launching off of me in alert to spot the convict while I sat up, turning my body to see where the source came from. My heart was pounding into bricks as I detected the man that was stirring en route to us through the sand, a man that had that look about him that made you want to run to the nearest exit in a prison, a guy that could replace your most recent nightmare with a real one.

His smile was keen, wide and impish, strolling towards us with a carefree stride like he had it down. "Awww, I'm sorry to have ruined you guys moment, not that it wasn't cute, but you know how it is when there's a troll lurking in the area. Here he is!" the man said, stopping within twelve feet of us.

I was up on my feet, studying his wicked form with deliberate eyes as I instinctively set into my defensive masquerade. Tanned brown skin was painted on his skin with a nest of messy long black hair on top. He was tall and wearing a black cloak like some sort of eradicator, different from Axel's and mine. He knew what I was thinking as he stared back at me, staring through my soul with eyes of gold that held dents of corruption. He smiled at this, whipping his nose as began to speak.

"Oh yeah! I totally forgot to introduce myself!" he said in an energetic voice as he put his hands behind his back gallantly. "I'm Menace. A 'Menace' to you and to all I dare to pest."

My eye twitched at his announcement. _Why does that sound so stupid? Oh wait, 'cause it is._

The smell of flames blew in the air with much intensity, the source coming from the fire lord himself as he took a step at my side, snarling at the man. "Yeah, you're being a menace all right. Why are you here?"

"Hah! To live up to my name man!"

Square black creatures with red eyes and large sharp-toothed shaped mouths rose out of the sand while creating a hissing sound, sand sliding off its small bodies like water. My eyes widened as horrific laughter filled the air, watching the small creatures skip towards me in little jitters of hiccup sounds.

_What is this?_ I thought in surprise, bringing out my katana-like weapon, slicing and swatting at the unnumbered heartless that proved unaffected as they jumped at me, trying to bite or gnaw on my limbs.

"Gnah!" I squawked, frustration swallowing my contour while the small heartless army started to overtake me with their abnormal ability of organized formation.

_Ah! What's wrong with me? This can't be too hard for me to do?_

For some reason the energy I had just minutes before this fight was evaporating steadily fast, and I didn't have time to think why that was as the heartless began to form a shape around me, parts of my body suffering from pinches and bites.

"Deonna watch out!"

Moving fast on my heels, my feet turned around out of reflex to Axel's calling only to see a horde of flames coming my way. Holding in my shout I jumped to the side in a somersault out of the ring of heartless that seemed to have perished in the flames.

My eyes strained, wincing at the site of heat and bouncing flames that engulfed the heartless, knowing that twinge in my chest was not gone just yet as an invincible being lingered in the fiery midst.

"Hah! Burn baby!" Axel shouted, a small victory smile on his face as the blazing inferno came to its end, smoke filling the air in grey clouds that escalated into the gentle blue sky.

A shockwave of panic spread throughout my body, gasping as I stood up on my stinging legs into a hurried run towards Axel who could not see what showed clearly in my appalled eyes, racing before the silhouetted form could make any moves of its own.

"Axel! Get out the way!"

His fingers tightened on his chakrams at the sound of my distraught voice, staring back at me with an expression that eclipsed mine. A mixture of confusion and worry shone brightly on his face, unaware of what was right before him at that moment. In the smoke the beast heaved like a balloon, blowing out a gush of wind in Axel's direction like a gigantic sneeze on a fragile flower, though this fiery flower stood its ground with endurance, and time was wearing thin.

"Ack!"

"Crap!" My body halted, realizing my steps were not quick enough to influence the foreseen damage that has already been done.

"DEONNA! GET BACK!" Axel shouted, shielding himself with his weapons from the windy tornado that swept away sand in unusual dances. My fist tightened, knowing that Axel was not going to last long, and I was not going to let that happen. My eyebrows were stuck in a 'V', quickly replacing the keychain on my keyblade with the heart one.

Legs apart and ready for a beating, I brought my changed heavy weapon up with sweaty hands, aiming it at the ferocious heartless that could gobble up an elephant. _Smart or not I got to think of something!_

With that uncanny motive, out came frosts of ice from my blade that stuck to the heartless in crystal frosty shards. Repeatedly this action occurred until the heartless closed its wide mouth, ending its windy masquerade on Axel to focus its attention on me; its big round bloody eyes raising a calling fear, a dreamt fantasy from another world.

I gulped, taking a step back as the monster turned its body in my direction, just afterwards as a small block of the heartless jumped off like a zit, evaporating into thin air. My eyebrows contorted from the strange sight that left me in a trance of thought.

What…? How that…wait!

As the heartless made its way through the sand, my eyes took careful notice of the small heartless that hopped off the big heartless from where I aimed it with the ice. The monster opened its mouth for a gulp of my being as I leapt to the side, not before striking it with my keyblade. I landed on my feet in a crouch, panting as I refused to take my eyes of the heartless, where still a few more blackheads were popping off as it made the large heartless appear smaller as it slowly turned my way. An epiphany manifested on my face, grinning from the knowledge of the heartless weakness.

"Yes! Yes! It's the ice!" The only problem was that there was only three spells left I had to use, but somehow I had to make up for it.

"Come on let's finish this!" Axel shouted from behind, making me jolt as I stood up. My head spun to see was there any form of injuries that was pounded on him from the attack, not realizing the expression on his face that meant panic as he grabbed my hand, running out of the zone of the power trained heartless that came our way.

"Whoa!" I yelped, almost tripping over my bare feet across the sand as Axel pulled me at a better distance to stand our ground. He let go of my hand as he looked at the heartless with a determined gaze like he was ready to nuke that beast, taking out a few cast of ice to use.

"Ok I got a few of these spells here," he said, holding them in his hand as he looked back at me, "You ready?" I nodded, taking in the sight of blood out of the corner of his lip, trying to ignore it as I spoke.

"Yeah, but not that much." He stared back ahead, cocking his head to the side in a fighting motion. "Well then just use what you got…"

"Right."

Soon enough the heartless was back on its track, not as big as before as it made its way in our direction like a bull, mouth open wide and all. We both shot our cast at the heartless that made more of the heartless smaller as its remains were getting iced off. Trying to ram us, we jumped out of its the way, but not before I could hit it with my keyblade in the process. In a matter of minutes, the heartless was small enough to attack with only our weapons as it blasted out into cubes as before, ending the attack in total victory as the last heartless diminished into a cloud of darkness.

My breathing was hard and heavy, catching my breath while I observed my surroundings for any more enemies that I missed; my eyes caught onto nothing that seemed peculiar or black enough to be heartless, just the purple-blue sky and messy sand on the beach that lacked nothing but Axel and me. Relief swelled my face, grinning wide as my drained body fell onto the sand on my back, my arms and legs sprawled out for comfort with my eyes closed.

"Yes…we did it…"

"Yeah…" Axel replied, who was also lying on the sand by my side in the same silly position.

We both stayed that way for a while, resting our bodies in the same place where we fought a few minutes ago. Axel then sat up, resting his arms on his knees, his eyes gazing into space as it appeared while I wondered what was going through his mind.

"Axel, you okay?"

He continued to goggle at the scenery for a moment before catching onto my concerned question for him, looking at me with irregular eyes in a low voice.

"Hmm? Oh yea. Despite what just happened earlier, falling on my butt a couple of times and getting bitten by little cubes. I have to say I'm fine…"

I sat up slightly, leaning back on my arms. "Hpmh…just say you feel awful then going through the whole nine yards…" I said, replying in a disgruntled tone.

He sighed, shaking his head as he turned back at the sight of the ocean, resting his head on his knees. "Huh…sorry…I'm just a bit uptight right now…."

Before I could say anything at his troublesome comment, he got up on his feet, walking towards the water up ahead then sitting back down on the ground in a lonesome manner. My mind was jumbled at his complex behavior, trying to workout the puzzle of Axel in my head.

What? Why is he acting like that…? Stressed maybe? Yeah, probably tired from the lack of sleep and fighting…don't know for sure though…maybe I should…

As my brain worked up, an unusual sound could be heard in my ears, a gross voice from an immoral individual.

'Hello? Can you hear me?'

My eyes widened in fright as my heart skipped a beat, sitting up completely while looking back and forth for the sound of the voce that was echoing through my head like a microphone.

"What? Wha-?"

Horrific laughter filled my head, entertained at my frame of mind as my hands came over my ears, drooping down at the ground with my eyes closed shut. 'Ok, I'll give you a hint. A pest is prowling about…'

Men-Menace…

Realizing it was him who was communicating with me through my mind, my memories recollected the fight Axel and me endured without seeing Menace at all except at the beginning of the brawl. I groaned at the headache that started to develop, grinding my teeth.

What the heck are you doing in my head? GET OUT NOW!

'Why? How are your dreams? Are they good dreams?'

I refused to answer him, knowing good and darn oh well they have been distorted by Attrox.

'Heh, I guess the proper term is nightmares, right? My master sure are awfully good at those…'

Master? Who you mean? I blurted, opening my eyes with a fume.

He chuckled, wincing as lighting passed through my head.

'Deonna, you know who I mean. Unless you would rather hear his name?'

I remained silent, at last looking up to see Axel's back to me, not aware of what I was going through at this moment of pain and distraught.

'Heh, well then, since I'm such a nice person I'll tell you that what you search for is not here in this world. So hurry up, for this fun race will end soon…bye hero. Oh and call me.'

"What?"

No reply. I rubbed my neck, searching around me for whatever looked bizarre, still a bit frantic at the discussion I just had with Menace. My eyes landed on Axel once again, hoping he wouldn't be bitter if I showed up in his presence like we just had a fight between ourselves. My mind was stuck with a picture of Menace on the wall and with no outlet it'll be there for awhile. A talk with Axel would be a good distraction for my tried brain. With my nerves full of insecurity, I stepped towards Axel, unhurried and slow as my eyes glued to his form, wondering would he turn around with an irked look of any sort. My legs folded, sitting in the arid sand at his side who only glanced at me with small eyes, giving me a tiny greeting.

"Hey…"

"Hey Axel…"

He turned back around, speaking tiredly as he continued on watching the motioned waters.

"I know I left you back there…sorry about that. I just had to clear my head a bit. Man we keep getting into stupid little mishaps."

He scratched his chin then rubbed his neck with a huff, shaking his head like he'd had enough for one day. "I can't wait 'till this is all over…"

My mouth made corners. "Yeah me to…maybe we can go on vaycay after this."

His face turned to mine, smirking. "Heh, yeah that'll be nice. And all the Sea-salt ice cream will be there with me…" he said with a slight chuckle. Before he looked away my eyes pinpointed a stream of red blood at the corner of his lip, straitening my position as I sat on my legs, turning fully to him.

"Axel you got something on your face."

"Huh? What?"

He turned back to look at me with a questioning look, wanting me to repeat what I said as he started to rub his face in the wrong areas.

"See here…"

My hands motioned forward, gently grabbing his face for a better look as his eyes widened, a blush forming upon his cheeks while his whole body jammed in this rare setting.

"Hmm…" I moaned, narrowing my eyes as my finger rubbed away the blood that was present on his soft skin. "See, you had some blood oozing out. Yuk!" I said in a silly joking manner.

It was like he was caught in a net, mystified at our close distance with a gawking gaze, showcasing shyness behind a goofy grin as his eyes veered away.

"Uhh…heh…eh ok…" he said, gripping my wrists, pulling them down from off his face as he turned away.

My eyes blinked, realizing that the contact was broken as I shifted my body in view of the water ahead, folding my clammy fingers on my lap that fiddled from the intense impulses from my inner being, my mind beginning to wonder of the moment we had earlier that seemed lost.

The only sound that was present was the ruffling of waves that occupied our ears, the sight of the shadowy blue horizon on the east and the marvelous cherry and navy sky above that was bombarded with huge white clouds that were set in reflection of the sun. Neither of us spoke, which only managed our resting period to set in a mood of awkward silence, until Axel mustered up the initiative to say at least a word of concern.

"Potion?" Axel asked, calling me to turn at him abruptly as his fingers held a bottle of medicine for me to take.

"Uh, yeah thanks…"

With that I started to search for cuts or bruises that was present on my body, even pulling up my pants to view my legs just so I knew for sure. As my hands grazed my skin while rubbing the potion in like lotion, Axel finally spoke once again, ending the continued quietness.

"So, how are you feeling thus far anyhow?"

"Oh uh, I'm okay. Little hungry and thirsty though."

"Yeah? Me to. Seems like we left all the goodies in your bag."

"Huh, oh yeah, right…" I brought my head up, handing Axel the rest of the potion.

"Uh, you didn't use it up…" Axel said in mild realization, shaking the small bottle as he peered into it with squinted eyes. "You could have used it up since this was the last one…"

"Huh? The last one?" I asked, flabbergasted while my eyebrows made spirals. "Axel you could have kept it if it was your last one. I would have been ok," I said even though I had no more potions for myself.

He observed my expression diligently, shaking his head with a sigh as he pressed his hand on his bent knee. "Geez Deonna. Didn't I tell you not to worry about me? Don't become a worrywart now…"

He stood up, issuing me to stand with him with his outstretched hand. "Come on let's go get some chow."

"Mmhmm," I agreed, grasping his hand for support.

* * *

"Well, that was better than nothing…" I said in meek satisfaction, patting my stomach like I just ate a roast of meat.

"You're just rationalizing," Axel criticized, chewing on a peach where you could see the seed in sight as he sat on my right, legs crossed. "But I do agree…"

My shoulders rose and fell, licking my lips in a smack as I rubbed my hands together, about to grab a water bottle from my bag that was on my left.

"Hey Deonna, you see that?" Axel asked, making me look at him part way as I gulped water down my throat.

Axel shook slightly, grinning at the hasty sight.

I removed the bottle from my mouth to catch a breath, heaving in and out while my mind wandered about Axel's pursuit gaze.

"What?"

"Nothing. Well it's you. You're just funny," he said with a toothy smile.

"Whatever creep."

"Anyhoo," Axel said, turning his head at the ocean with a pointed finger. "You see that all the way out there?"

Putting the bottle down, I scooted forward on my legs while my arms held the weight, narrowing my eyes for a better look at the far away object that appeared to be a large boat. "Uhh…yeah I see something…a ship right?"

"Yep. A pirate ship."

My eyes widened, gaping as I sat back on my legs in awe. "Pirates?"

"Yeah. Pirates fascinate you?"

"Well, I've never seen pirates before, so they are interesting to me."

We both watched the pirate ship in a peaceful silence, the kind of silence you hear after a hard days work or even fighting enemies. The clouds were now turning into soft tints of orange and purple from the descended sun on the other side of the island. Darkness was emerging.

I rubbed my eyes while hearing chuckling from Axel's shaken body, leaning back on his hands with his face still facing forward as he began to speak in a jovial voice.

"I remember when I was younger, me and my friend used to dress up as pirates and look for chests all over the place, like we would actually find something of great value…" He turned to look at me, a tired grin unending. "It's so easy to imagine things like that when you're young, pretending like you live in a fairytale and you can beat up that dragon…"

"Ah, to save a princess right?" I said in a perky voice, giggling at his surprised expression as he averted his eyes to the ground, leaving my question unanswered.

He rubbed his neck, veering his attention to the sky and environment around him in a hasty jolted manner.

"Hmm look at that it's getting dark we should probably get a move on soon."

"Well actually Axel…maybe Sora isn't here."

His head spun, his attention back on me with wider dubious eyes. "What? Why you think that?"

My heart jumped, feeling skepticism roam about me, twiddling my fingers while my head drooped, not sure of myself why I thought that way even though its influence originates with that Menace.

"Well, uhm maybe its because…because…"

I looked back up, his visage in complete confusion at my outlook. I groaned, pouting like a child while throwing my arms up in the air.

"Ah geez I don't know!"

"Hmph. Well we can just stay till tomorrow."

"Ugh, but I doubt Sora would be out here at night. You can't see anything in that forest,"

I said, directing our visions to the darkened trees and bushes behind us.

Axel looked at me then at the ground in a thoughtful gaze, pursing his lips as he brought his head up in the direction of the dim lively waters. It took a moment before he said anything else, finally staring back at me with a sigh.

"Mmm, I-I guess you're right…" he paused, scratching his chin, "so you mean, you wanna go somewhere else and look? Or would you rather stay here until morning and search then? Who knows, he could be here and we just don't know it."

"Uh, well…" My head cocked to the side, gawking at a few stars that shone in the atmosphere. "If it makes you comfortable we can go about that alternative, I don't mind…"

"Heh, well it's better safe than sorry…I just wanna make sure that's all…"

"Yeah I know…"

I sunk my head into the palm of my lap, sighing a tired moan as my eyes became mesmerized by the horizon and ocean waves, the moon starting to contrast against the shadowy sky. Axel's face came into view out of the corner of my eye, making me look at him indifferently.

"What?"

" You're starting to act moody now. Maybe you should go to sleep."

"Heh, sleep? I don't want to sleep yet…hey how about…" I paused, my face lighting up as my position straightened more upright. "Can I play with your hair?"

Axel's face scrunched up, shaking his head firmly with a small back lean of his body.

"No."

"Please Axel?"

"No."

"But Axel I'm moody."

"N-…" Axel began, but closed his lips and eyes slowly, his eyebrows hardening as he groaned into a pout.

"Geez you got me again…"

I giggled, moving my weight onto my knees with a wide grin, teasing him.

"What? It's my girl charm."

Axel snorted, turning his body in view of his side with his arms folded, his legs crossed while his torso slumped forward.

"Yeah? It's more like manipulation than charm-OW!" he yelped, rubbing the ear I pulled on his head out of his constant grumbling. He tried to turn his head around to see me but I moved it back in place to mess with his frilly hair. He groaned, brooding in his misery.

"Hmph, whatever happened to just saying shut up?"

"Shut up."

I spent at least ten minutes on Axel's hair, transforming it into a number of made-up hairstyles that I thought would look good on him, all the while playing a game Axel made up that I could not understand. Dusk at last turned to night, and Axel and me didn't realize it while we were in our little world.

"Oh this game sucks Axel!" I whined as my hand motioned forward and back, brushing his hair into a ponytail.

"Ha ha ha! See? It's for superior minds like mine to grasp, not girly minds like yours."

"Hey! Don't make me pull your ear again!"

"Pfft! I've become immune to that already."

"Fine! Let's test that theory!"

Before I could grab his ear his hand got in the way, covering it like an outer shell as well as doing it with his other ear.

He laughed while I grinned dully, about to finish with his last hairdo.

"Well, I'm done…"

Axel grouched, stretching his arms up in the air with a loud yawn.

"Ahh! Finally!"

He sniffed his nose, rubbing his face with repeated moans of tiredness as I waited for him to turn around on his own accord so I can see the result fully. My patience wore thin.

"Axel can you turn around?"

"Huh? Oh yeah…"

When he turned around my hands slapped my cheeks, gaping in dramatic wonder at his appearance. My face felt stuck in a gleaming smile, theatrical gestures I gave him.

Axel appeared freaked out. "Deonna, why you staring at me like that?"

"Aww Axel you look adorable!"

Everything about his face turned huge, even the redness of his cheeks.

"What?"

My hand covered my mouth, giggling at his response.

"You look more friendlier and huggable!"

"EH?" Axel gasped, shielding his body with his arm. "No! No more hugging from you!"

"Hah!" I crossed my arms. "What's with you with not hugging and lack of affection?"

"I show affection, just not the touchy kind…" he grumbled, peering down. "Besides, there's only so much a 'Nobody' can do anyhow…I guess".

"Uh…hmmm…" I moaned, my arms relaxing to their sides with an undeveloped answer, not sure what to say about his guess about 'Nobodies' and emotion.

Does Axel mean that he…can't feel love…?

My mind wandered for that answer, remembering what happened earlier today when we had a moment to ourselves.

Does he remember that moment at all?

Without realizing it Axel got up and walked behind me, making me wake up from my thoughts, asking what he was doing.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to get some wood. You didn't hear me before?"

My head shook.

"Heh, well I'll be right back…"

"Wait need me to help?"

"No. I got this. You just relax all right?"

With that he stepped into the bushes, not arriving back until about six minutes later with small pieces of wood under both his arms and some heavy sticks in both hands. I helped him build a small bonfire that flared dancing flowers of heat in its midst, smoke drifting into the pitch black sky where the moon rested overhead and stars observing us from comfortable seats. We ate what was in the bag again, but saved some of the food, or snacks for tomorrow.

"So," Axel began, who was lying on his back with one leg up, hands behind his head as he gazed up at the white circles in the sky. "How long you plan to stay up?"

I sighed, rubbing my neck. "Eh…I don't know. I just don't want to sleep yet."

"Heh, geez girl you not sleepy yet?"

My head looked downright, observing an 'are-you-serious' expression on his face, featured with a small grin.

"Uhh, no…well a little tired but that's all…" I said, feeling bashful as my hands rubbed my ankles, knowing that wasn't all to it.

"Hmm…well I guess I'll be the first to sleep," Axel said as he got up, patting himself from the sand while walking towards the bushes behind me, which he had cut which his Chakrams so they could be more low and easier to walk through. He waved, not looking back.

"Night D."

My eyes followed him while my heartbeat increased within the slightest motion of his body, my arm reaching out for him in alarm before he could make another step forward.

"Axel wait! I-"

"Huh? What?" he asked, turning back around, the flames bouncing off of his lean bright figure in a menacing shady outlook.

"Oh uhm…" I looked down bashfully, twisting my body in his direction without looking at him.

"Could you uhm…maybe if you wanted…could you stay with me-I mean stay up with me longer…?"

I gulped, biting my lip at the unusual plea I beseeched upon him, cocking my head to the side as my eyes veered up at his face, which was quite perturbed at the moment.

"Uhh…er-" he stuttered, placing one hand on his hip and rubbing the back of his neck with the other, appearing rather unsure and tentative.

"Heh…why? Y-You afraid of the dark or something? There's a fire right here and I'm just going to be behind those bushes."

My head bowed, sighing at his answer. "Oh Axel I just don't want to be alone, not yet…"

And not dream of anything…

My lips pursed, swerving my head towards the warm fire that gently tingled my skin like little prancing fingers, continuing in a low voice. "But you know if your too tired just go to sleep. I can stand a little loneliness and darkness to myself…"

As I moved my legs under my chin up to my chest, Axel heaved a heavy sigh, replying in a tired voice.

"Geez…you don't have to sound so dramatic and emotional even."

Without moving my head, my eyes stared out of its corners at Axel who came at my left side, sitting next to me with his legs crossed and drooped head in palm.

"Just five minutes missy and I'm outta here and onto dreamland."

My head turned out of wonder, the feeling of my eyelids trying to settle shut from my own fatigue that tried to come in. But not yet.

Axel…how are your dreams lately…

"So you're not really tired yet? Hmm what's up with that?" Axel asked, looking at me with droopy eyes while I brought my head up.

"Uh well it's not that I'm not tired…just that," I paused, peering back at the flames, "I just don't want to sleep yet."

"And why is that?"

My shoulder shrugged, not wanting to tell him the story of my dreams.

"Eh, nothing important. I guess I turned into a night owl, hehe…"

"Hmm…is that so…let's see can you say that to my face?"

I put my head on my knees, turning it slowly in mild anxiety, staring worryingly at his questioning face that held raised eyebrows that demanded my attention.

"Uh, heh, uhm well…me night owl…"

His face muscles loosened into a small smile, his eyelids relaxed as if he had encountered awareness within the situation while chuckles escaped from his lips.

"Heh, heh…just tell me. I know that's not all to it owl."

Heh, great… he saw through it like a target. Well I guess it can't be helped. I just don't want to worry him with any else of my problems…

I sighed, pounding my forehead on my knees in low groans. "Ok then…its that I-" I began but stopped as I began to feel a sneaky sensation on my back, slithering up and down like a snake.

"Woah what is that!" I shrieked, piercing my chest forward and shoulder blades back in desperation, turning to see the culprit that stared back at me sheepishly.

"Geez Deonna it was just me…heh" he said, his hand still gestured up as if to be frozen in mid-air.

"Oh…" My face flustered, looking away.

"Ok don't get the wrong idea. I thought I would try to console is all…"

I peeped a smile, peering back at him with a nod, feeling my heart skip a beat that produced joyful sensations through my body, so much that it hurt.

_Ah…he does care…_

"Ahem back to what I was saying…I've just been having stupid dreams lately." My head turned back at the fire while Axel's hand proceeded to motion up and down my back, prickling my spine.

"uhuh…"

"Yeah, creepy ones. So I'll rather stay up than go to sleep now…"

"Oh, I see how it is."

"Yep," I said, looking back at Axel, "how are your dreams like? I hope there any better than mine."

"Ah, eh…" His eyes veered upward. "Well to tell you the truth…they've been pretty dumb to…"

"Oh really? What they be about?"

He smirked, looking straight into my eyes. "I scratch your back you scratch mine. Tell me what yours are about."

"Oh uh, I rather not."

"Hmph fine."

The motion of his hand ceased as he stood back up over me, gesturing his hand for me to stand with him.

"Come on. Let's go to sleep. If you have a bad dream I'll be there for you to lean on me…"

My eyes widened, gaping up at him while my skin sensed agitation of comforted feeling. I cleared my throat, reaching for his hand, hoping those words would ring out true.

* * *

_**Bet you didn't know which world they went to *wink wink* Then if not I advise you go watch a boy in green tights flying around like a bird XD And guys...please review T-T**_


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